BlizzardStormshipping - 365 Oneshots
by finalfanaticgorm
Summary: Inspired by "365 day writing challenge" by stocky-parker-dog. These oneshots will be between 100 and 2000 words and will focus on BlizzardStormshipping (surprise, surprise). Romance galore (well, this is me we're talking about here!) so enjoy! Cover designed by Typereg.
1. January 1 - Twist

_AN: Welcome to my newest project (yes, another one, I am really doing this!) I feel that this will somewhat compensate for the sporadic updates for ROTLON and GL2 (at least that's the idea) as the plan is to upload a oneshot every day while simultaneously writing for whatever the focus may be at the time. And, yes, I'm aware that this is late but being a carer for my mum means I only really have time to write on a I sincerely hope you enjoy this series and I will do my absolute best to get the ROTLON chapter finished asap!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1559_

* * *

Jessica hated these types of stories. The ones where it seems like the couple will live happily ever after and then...bam! Something happens to tear them apart.

She rolled her eyes as she put down the book, wondering if what she had just read was applicable in real life. It was stupid to compare fiction to reality, yet a part of her was now worried.

"You're doing that thing again!" Her boyfriend's amused voice snapped her out of her train of thought. He grinned at her, adding cheerfully, "You were reading one of those trashy romance novels, weren't you?"

"They're not trashy!" she responded. Upon seeing the disbelieving look on his face, she admitted, "Okay, so they're not what I'd normally choose to read. I just didn't have the heart to tell Gina that romance novels aren't my thing."

Toby chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. He had been watching Jessica read through the final chapter of the book all through their date at _Mabel's_ and, judging by the way her face had looked, it hadn't ended the way she had wanted it to.

"So what happened this time?" he asked. "Let me guess - he was just about to confess but then got abducted by romance-hating aliens!"

"That would have been a _much_ better ending!" she responded before letting out a heavy sigh. "No, no, he gets murdered by his former gang member on his wedding day. He dies in his would-be wife's arms! The poor guy didn't even get to say his vows!"

Toby let out a low whistle. "Wow...that's depressing!" he said. He didn't quite understand why she was making a fuss about the ending of a romance novel but he thought it was probably for the best to go along with it for now.

"Tell me about it!" she complained. "What is it with romance authors building up this couple, making us root for them, and then tearing them apart with a brutal twist at the end?"

He raised an eyebrow. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

She looked at him, unimpressed. "I just really hate the twists at the end. Imagine if something like that happened to us." A rather unwelcome image of Toby cheerfully telling her he was leaving her for Madison Verne popped into her head and she shuddered. She'd rather read the ending of that novel a million times than lose her boyfriend to Madison.

Toby thought for a moment. "But not all twists are bad, surely? My mom read a romance novel once. The main character's love interest was supposed to be dying from some rare disease but, in the end, it turns out the doctors had misdiagnosed and she just had a bad case of the flu or something. The book starts off with everyone expecting them to die but, instead it ends with their wedding and then a timeskip epilogue to show their kids."

"And your point is?" Jessica asked. "I-I mean it's no more real than what happened in my book. Well, I suppose it could happen but-"

"You just don't want us to be ruined by a 'brutal twist', right?"

She nodded sadly before letting out a squeak as he leaned over to kiss her. "Stop worrying about what _might_ happen! I love you, you love me. That's all there is to it. Sure, we still have a fair few chapters to go through but, as long as we have each other, we can get through anything life throws at us."

"Thanks, Toby." Jessica smiled genuinely at him. His words had cheered her up immensely. He was right - comparing their relationship to those in her romance novels was pointless. If she kept on worrying about what could happen, she would lose sight of what they had now.

"So does this mean that you're gonna tell Gina that you don't like romance novels? No, wait, my mistake - you don't like the endings to romance novels."

She let out a groan. "I'd feel so bad, though! Those books looked brand-new and they can't have come cheap! I guess I'd just feel like I'm being really ungrateful! They're not _that_ bad!"

Toby dug into his pocket and pulled something out which he hid from her view. "You know what else doesn't come cheap?" he asked, watching in amusement as she nearly launched herself onto his side of the table in her attempts to prise the object out of his hand. After a while, he decided to put her out of her misery and opened his hand, showing her the contents. The resulting happy gasp from her made him smile.

"Two tickets to the latest action movie?" she asked, her eyes widening. "You remembered that action was my favourite film genre!" This touched her, finding out that he would remember such an insignificant detail. Everyone else always seemed to assume that she was the kind of girl who enjoyed the sappy romance movies but that couldn't be further from the truth. Give her adventure and bravery over unrealistic relationships any day.

"Of course. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't know what you were into? Besides your face when Gina made us watch that romance movie one time was a _major_ giveaway!"

She stood up from her seat. "Well, let's go!" She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for him to pay for their food before practically running out of the café.

"In a hurry, aren't we? The cinema isn't going anywhere!" Toby laughed, watching as she puffed her cheeks out, frowning at him, attempting to look angry. It utterly failed, though, as he thought she looked adorable.

Jessica let out a shriek as her feet suddenly left the ground. She managed to lift her head up and saw that Toby had picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and was apparently carrying her to the cinema. "Toby!" she yelled, trying and failing to sound stern because she kept on laughing. The fact that he was also laughing wasn't helping, either. "Put me down!"

"Sorry!" he gasped, though his laughter made it seem like he was anything but. "I don't know if you've noticed but you are overwhelmingly cute when you're mad!"

"Shut up..." she mutters fondly, her cheeks flushed.

"No, really!" he insisted. "Even when we were about twelve, I always thought it. To me, everything you did was half-amazing and half-adorable."

She smiled at this. "And yet you probably didn't find me adorable when I beat you at the judo tournament!"

"You got me there," he agreed. "Amazing, I admit, but not adorable."

He set her down on the ground and she saw that the cinema wasn't too far away. "Hey, Toby, if you ever decide to dump me for Madison-"

"Whoa, whoa, stop right there!" Toby said, looking alarmed. "What on earth would make you think that? I'd never dump you for anybody - you know that!"

"Yeah, I know! It was just a stupid thought I had when I was reading. Be one heck of a twist, though. Childhood friends turned lovers torn apart by scheming love rival? The romance novel fans would eat it up!"

They both laughed at the truth of the statement. Toby recovered and said solemnly, "Well, you have my word that I won't ever choose Madison Verne over you, okay?"

She stood on her tiptoes. "Good," she whispered before kissing him. "Because that would be the one twist I'd hate the most."

When they broke apart, he draped his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go and see this movie, shall we?"

They walked into the cinema, paid for their tickets and snacks and sat down in one of the theatres to watch the movie.

Jessica quickly became engrossed in it. To her delight, the main character was female and she was quickly proving that she was no damsel in distress. It was movies like this that Jessica enjoyed. Girls could be heroes, too. She was living proof of that.

"No chance of any romantic twists in this," Toby whispered in her ear after Scarlet rejected the advances of her rival explorer Raymond, stating that she did not need a man to save her or complete her.

True enough, Raymond ended up being killed by the corrupt governor who had provided the finances for both his and Scarlet's expeditions.

 _"I am not doing this because I suddenly realized I loved him! I barely knew him. I am merely avenging his death and ridding the world of a stain of filth!"_

Right after this speech, Scarlet used the governor's own rifle to shoot him dead. She then went to the cavern alone, found the treasure, and returned to America.

At the ceremony, she gave her reward money to Raymond's parents, telling them she knows no amount of money will bring their son back but she feels that they deserve the money more than she does. It was out of a sense of duty.

The couple smiled as the movie ended.

No twist?

Perfect.


	2. January 2 - Split

_AN: Hello, and welcome to the second oneshot of this series! I sincerely hope you enjoy it! And I must apologize in advance if any of these oneshots end weirdly at all._

 _Words **(excluding author's note):** 980_

* * *

It had been an honest mistake on his part. He and Jessica had been searching in the Air Nation for any sign of the Lava Gormiti as the inhabitants of the Air citadels had reported seeing signs of them in the area, no doubt up to no good.

Unfortunately a surprise ambush had caused them to become separated. At the time, he had suggested that they should split up to avoid being caught. But now he wasn't so sure it had been such a great idea.

"Come on, Jess." he muttered as he walked across the top of the citadel. "Where _are_ you?"

He looked toward the entrance, wondering if he should ask the Air Gormiti for help. Then a thought occurred to him. What if Jessica was absolutely fine? She was tough, after all. Still, he couldn't take that chance so he headed in that direction.

"Um, sorry to bother you but I kinda need your help. You see the Lord of Air and I were looking for the Lava Gormiti when we got separated after they ambushed us and-"

The Air Gormiti looked confused at first and then alarmed as they watched Toby ramble on. One of them spoke up. "With all due respect, Lord of Water, you may wish to take a breath."

Another one added, "We shall send out scouts to search for our Lord."

Toby slumped down onto the floor. "Thank you," he said breathlessly, still wondering why he was so worried about her. He watched a group of Air Gormiti fly out of the citadel to search for Jessica, wishing he could help. But he felt sick with exhaustion and worry, not to mention he couldn't fly, which is why he had accepted their offer to rest in the citadel for a while.

While he waited, he wondered if she would be angry at him for even suggesting that they split up in the first place. The idea of her being angry at him - genuinely angry - left a bad taste in his mouth. But what made him feel even worse was how awful he felt being away from her and he couldn't understand it at all.

"What are you doing to me, Jess?" he asked himself. He doesn't have the answer. He doesn't think he ever will. He cares about her, that much he can admit, but did it really go beyond that of mere friendship? Did he see her as more than just his best friend? He was starting to think that he might. It didn't really matter, though. She'd never feel the same way.

"There you are!" A familiar voice, one that fills him with so much emotion, exclaimed. He turned his head and saw her standing at the entrance to the citadel, along with the group of Air Gormiti.

"Jess..." he whispered. He'd seen her countless times before yet, for some unknown reason, she'd never looked more beautiful to him.

He stood up, ignoring his dizziness, and rushed towards her, hugging her so tightly he lifted her off her feet.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" they said together before laughing with pure relief.

Toby put her down, still laughing. "Next time I say we should split up..."

"I'll tell you not to be so stupid!" Jessica finished for him. "I was worried about you!"

He stopped laughing abruptly. "Y-You were?" He was nervous. Why was he nervous?

"And I'm willing to bet that you were worried about me too, right?

His head snapped up. "How did you know that?" he asked, realizing that he had just admitted that he _had_ been worried about her but he couldn't care less.

"Do you think I've never noticed your reactions whenever I'm in danger?" she responded, an amused look on her face, as she watched him try and fail to come up with a response.

"I... well, I -" Why was talking so hard all of a sudden? He'd never had a problem talking to her usually but now it was like his brain had forgotten how to function.

She poked his chest lightly. "You don't need to worry about me! I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah, I know that! It doesn't stop me from worrying about you, though!" She was too close to him now. He couldn't stop himself!

"Well, what do you - mph!" She was cut off by his lips pressing firmly against hers. That was a surprise - to both of them, in fact.

He was worried that she might have slapped him, never once expecting that she would kiss him back. Yet she was doing just that, her hands tracing his jaw while his own wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

The kiss continued for a few moments until they had to separate for air. Panting lightly, they ended up laughing - partly out of embarrassment and partly because they both had secretly wanted it to happen for a while.

What they both said afterwards only felt like the natural thing to say. "I love you." And it felt so right.

They remained in each other's arms for a good while, neither of them trusting themselves to speak in case they ruined the moment.

Eventually Toby spoke, "Does this mean we're -"

"Yes," Jessica replied simply, looking up at him. "Yes, it does."

He tilted her chin up,whispering, "Good." Before he could kiss her for a second time, they both heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They looked around to see the group of Air Gormiti still standing in the entrance of the citadel, many of them looking bemused. Jessica hastily started apologizing for their rudeness and thanked them for their help, Toby doing the same while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Whoops.


	3. January 3 - Seat

_AN: Whew, I only just got this done in time! Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's_ _note):_** _1914_

"What is this assembly about again?" A confused Toby asked Nick, Lucas and Jessica. They had walked into class that morning only to be told by their teacher Mrs Gulinder that the whole school had to attend a special assembly after registration.

They shrugged in response, none of them having a clue. Principal Morris had a habit of holding assemblies when the students and faculty least expected it.

Jessica raised her hand suddenly. "Mrs Gulinder?" she called out. "Could I go to the bathroom please?"

"If you're quick, Jessica." Mrs Gulinder responded, writing on a bathroom pass. If a student had to leave class to use the bathroom, the teacher had to write down the time they left the classroom and the time they returned.

Jessica walked to the front of the class to collect the slip of paper. Before doing so, however, she whispered to Toby, "Save me a seat, will you?"

He nodded. The four of them _always_ sat together in assemblies - it was somewhat a tradition. Everyone else knew not to take a seat next to them if one of their group was missing.

"Alright, everyone, if you'd all like to make your way down to the auditorium!" Mrs Gulinder said.

"Should we take our stuff, Miss?" A boy asked and the teacher responded with a negative.

Toby, Nick and Lucas followed the rest of their class down to the auditorium, taking their usual seats in the front row next to Gina.

As he had promised, Toby made sure to save a space for Jessica. The other students were perfectly happy to find somewhere else to sit. But there was bound to be someone who wasn't and this time was no exception.

"Toby!" A voice that always filled the blonde with dread squealed. He looked up to see none other than Madison Verne standing in front of him. "You saved me a seat! Aren't you just the sweetest?"

"I saved _Jessica_ a seat!" he muttered pointedly. It was too early in the day for him to cope with Madison's strange and obsessive crush on him.

Unfortunately Madison didn't seem to notice his discomfort as she sat down. "Well, Jessica's not here right now, is she?"

Toby let out a long-suffering sigh as he looked at Nick and Lucas for help but they gave him amused looks. They always seemed to enjoy how terrified he was of Madison. He knew one thing, though.

Jessica was going to kill him.

Said girl was making her way to the auditorium. She hoped the boys had been able to save her a seat but considering it was an assembly for the whole school, she wasn't expecting there to be any seats left.

As she walked in, she glanced around to find her friends. It didn't take her long to find them in the front row. She approached, only to frown as she saw the last person she wanted to see in the seat next to Toby, who clearly looked uncomfortable by the arrangement.

Her eyes scanned the seats for any sign of an empty seat but there were none. She sighed - it looked like she would be standing for the whole assembly. Hopefully Principal Morris wouldn't go off on one of his tangents as he was prone to doing.

Toby saw Jessica walk in and mouthed to her, "I tried telling her!" as she got closer, referring to Madison who was unashamedly flirting with him.

"Oh, hi, Jessica!" Madison said innocently. "Sorry, it looks like there's no room for you here. It's such a shame!" Though she said she was sorry, she sounded anything but.

"And whose fault is that?" Toby muttered under his breath. At this point, the brunette's flirting made him wish the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He didn't know how many times he had to tell her - he just plain wasn't interested in her.

Jessica calmed herself. There was no use in making a scene in front of the whole school. Madison strongly disliked her - possibly even hated her - and she didn't see any point in pretending the feeling wasn't mutual.

She was about to move to see if there _were_ any other seats when she felt Toby's arms pull her down onto his lap. She squeaked, her face red, though nobody else seemed bothered - she could hear Nick and Lucas sniggering and mentally berated them.

" _What_ are you doing?" Madison demanded to know. "That is _so_ not fair!"

Toby frowned at her. "In case you didn't notice, there aren't any other seats and I'm not letting her stand for an hour or more!"

Jessica couldn't help the small smile on her face at this, feeling his arms tighten around her waist. "Thanks!" she told him sincerely.

"Don't mention it!" he responded, trying not to notice that his cheeks were burning.

Madison wasn't yet finished. "W-Well, she could have the seat and you could let me..." she said hopefully, giving Toby her best flirtatious look.

" _No!"_ Jessica and Toby both whispered angrily. To both of them, the idea of Madison being in Jessica's current position was nothing short of terrifying.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to argue, Principal Morris walked in, meaning that assembly was about to start. He gave Jessica an odd look but said nothing, perhaps noticing the lack of any spare seats.

"Good morning, everyone!" he announced through the microphone. The students murmured in response and he continued, "Today we'll be talking about..."

At this point, Jessica tuned him out. She had long ago mastered the art of looking as though she were paying attention when in fact her mind was elsewhere.

Toby rested his head on her shoulder. "How long is this going to take?" he whispered. "I'm already bored!"

"Shh!" she hissed back. She had to agree with him, though. Many of the students were yawning and even some of the teachers looked like they wanted it to be over. Only Nick appeared to actually be paying attention to what he was saying which came as no surprise.

Suddenly she heard a tapping sound that sounded like it was coming from next to her. She looked in Madison's direction and saw the brunette tapping her manicured nails against each other creating an irritating sound.

"Cut it out!" she said through gritted teeth. Madison glared and started tapping even louder, making Jessica want to scream.

Toby felt her tense up and rubbed her arm in an attempt to both comfort and calm her. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on what Principal Morris was saying in order to block out Madison, which was no easy task.

"Ignore her," he soothed. "She'll get bored eventually."

"I wish she would..." Jessica muttered in response. She had no idea how Madison could have developed this _obsession_ \- because that was what it was - with Toby. In fact, even _he_ didn't know. The only time they had ever interacted had been when he'd passed her a tissue because he'd seen her crying one day. According to Madison, that meant that they were made for each other. It made no sense to Jessica whatsoever.

Eventually, after an hour - though it felt a lot longer - Principal Morris said, "Well, that's all for today! If you'd all like to make your way to your classes please!"

There was a collective sigh as everyone began moving row by row to exit the auditorium. Jessica stood up and waited for the others. They walked out of the auditorium, Toby rushing slightly because he wanted to escape Madison's clutches.

"That was priceless!" Nick laughed. "You aren't seriously scared of Madison Verne, are you, bro?"

Toby nodded his head, shuddering. He wouldn't have minded so much if she had a simple crush but there was a crush and then there was just Madison and her weirdly annoying behavior. It didn't really matter either way because he didn't feel the same way.

"And what was that about?" Lucas added, a mischievous grin on his face. "Letting Jessica sit on you?"

At this, both blondes blushed heavily. Toby managed to retort, "Well, I'd rather let Jessica sit on me than Madison! At least she doesn't obsess over me and act as though I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread!"

"Your ego's big enough, I think!" Jessica said lightly. Toby opened his mouth to protest but noticed her grinning and promptly shut it again, realizing she wasn't being serious.

It was one of the reasons he had fallen for her to begin with - she could not only handle jokes well but dish out a few herself. Not that she had any idea of his feelings for her and that was how he wanted it to stay...for now, at least.

So he laughed, "Very funny, Jess!"

Nick looked behind him and saw Madison approaching. "You might not want to look now but..."

Toby gulped. "Please don't tell me!" he groaned, grabbing hold of Jessica and attempting to hide behind her.

"What _are_ you doing?" she asked, confused.

Toby looked up at her. "Hiding," was his simple response.

"And he said he _wasn't_ afraid of Madison!" Nick said to Lucas and Gina who burst into laughter. Toby glared at them. He wasn't afraid of Madison Verne - well, he was but he didn't want the others to know.

"Could we just get moving?" Jessica said, a little irritated. She didn't want to have to deal with Madison twice in one day. Toby nodded his head insistently.

The others made noises of agreement and they carried on walking. Luckily for Toby, Madison was distracted by one of their classmates. He let out a breath as he finally felt able to relax. His shoulders slumped and he loosened his tight grip on Jessica.

"Safe at last," Jessica murmured reassuringly, reaching for his hand and squeezing it in a comforting gesture. She smiled at him, feeling much better now that Madison wasn't nearby. Something about her made her feel incredibly uneasy. It had nothing to do with Toby, though. Absolutely _nothing_ to do with Toby.

Okay, she'd admit it - it _did_ have something to do with Toby. Nobody knew but she'd had feelings for him for quite some time. It was cliche - falling for her best friend - yet it felt as though it had been meant to happen. She wasn't going to tell him, though. It was too soon and she wasn't ready.

Not yet.

They looked at each other, neither of them knowing their feelings for the other were mutual. As far as they were concerned, they were just friends and for now they were content with that.

They rushed ahead of the others, their arms around each other, the Madison incident practically forgotten. Nick, Lucas and Gina exchanged glances, more than used to seeing them acting in such a way. The three of them knew how close the duo were, ever since the day they first met around eight years ago.

"Hey, wait up!" the others called after them.

As they reached their classroom, Gina, who had been rather amused by the whole thing, said quietly: "I ship it."


	4. January 4 - Card

_AN: As usual, I hope you enjoy! I thought I'd add in baby Tori at the end for extra cuteness!_

 ** _Word count (excluding author's note):_** _1637_

* * *

When Toby returned home from school one day in March, he had something on his mind.

"Mom?" the five year old boy called. "It's Jessica's birthday on Monday. Can I make a card?"

At this, Nick, his younger brother, eagerly piped up, "I want to make her a card too, Mom!"

Karen laughed lightly. "Alright, first we'll have tea. Then, after the table's been cleared, you can _both_ make her a card. Does that sound alright, boys?"

They both nodded in response. "Alright then, I'm going to get started on the tea. You boys get your homework done, okay?"

After their mom went into the kitchen, Toby flopped onto the sofa. He didn't want to do homework! He was far too excited about making the card.

"Toby!" Nick complained as he was starting his spelling sheets. "Mom said we have to do our homework!"

"I don't wanna..." was Toby's response. He hated doing homework - it was so boring and it took _ages!_

"Mom!" Nick started to yell. Toby hastily leaped off the sofa and covered his brother's mouth with his hand.

"Alright, alright, I'll do the homework! There's no need to be such a tattletale!" he said huffily before letting go of Nick.

He walked over to his backpack which he had tossed onto the sofa and pulled out his homework sheets. There were only two of them but that felt like two too many to him. One was a spelling sheet and the other was a mathematics sheet with a variety of different sums.

"Okay, Toby, the sooner you get this done, the better," the boy muttered as he started working, motivated by the thought that he might not have been allowed to make Jessica a card if he didn't do the homework.

Karen walked in twenty minutes later just as Toby was finishing the last sum. Nick had already finished his homework fifteen minutes earlier. Toby was pretty sure he hadn't gotten them all right but he'd tried. Wasn't that what counted?

"Tea's ready, boys!" their mom called, placing two plates of pasta on the table. Both brothers scrambled to sit down and eat, eager to taste their mother's cooking.

After they'd eaten and the plates had been cleared away, Toby was almost bouncing with excitement as his mom brought the craft box downstairs. She would often make cards as a side hobby for other family members or friends.

"My card's gonna be the best card there ever was!" he exclaimed excitedly.

He and Nick were both given a blank card and they sat down at the table which now had a plastic cover over it in case either of them accidentally made a mess.

They got to work, using one arm to shield their work, worried that the other might copy their idea. Toby didn't want their cards to be the same. Jessica had told him he was the first friend she'd ever had. His card had to be special. It had to make her happy.

Karen watched them like a hawk, waiting to see if they needed any help with cutting things out since some of the shapes available were quite difficult to cut out and she didn't want either of them to hurt themselves.

After some time, the cards were finally finished. They were placed in envelopes which had Jessica's name written on. The brothers smiled at one another, happy that they had done something nice for their friend.

* * *

The following Monday, they walked into school and met up with Lucas who, it turned out, had also made a birthday card for Jessica. They waited for her to walk through the gates so they could give her the cards they'd made.

After five minutes, they saw her walking towards them. For a moment, Toby thought she looked very unhappy but when he looked at her again, she was smiling brightly at them. He decided he must have been seeing things.

"Happy birthday!" the three boys chorused, holding out the envelopes to the girl who looked surprised.

"F-For me?" she questioned, taking them and looking at them, touched. They nodded eagerly. "Thank you, all of you!"

She opened the first card and smiled as she saw a picture of a girl sitting on the grass watching the clouds.

The next card had a picture of a present and some balloons

The third and final card had a picture of an owl, which was her favourite animal.

Inside each card, they had written, " _Happy Birthday, Jess!"_ The first card added, " _from Toby, your bestest best friend!"_ She giggled at this, wondering if it was worth telling him that 'bestest' wasn't actually a word. Seeing the card made her get a funny fluttery feeling in her stomach - it was probably because she was happy. The card was the first one she'd ever received, after all.

Unlike Toby, Nick and Lucas had just written from followed by their names on their respective cards - the second and third.

One by one, she hugged them. " Thank you, again! You guys are the best!" she told them.

"What are friends for?" they responded, happy that she'd liked their cards.

She put them into her backpack carefully, not wanting to accidentally ruin them after they'd worked so hard to make them for her.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to class!" she then said cheerfully. "Today's going to be a great day! Race you!"

She raced towards the school, leaving the boys to call out her name as they chased after her. She didn't know why but she had a feeling this was going to be the best birthday she'd ever had.

* * *

Jessica smiled fondly as she stared at the object in her hand. She then shifted her four month old daughter in her arms slightly so she'd be more comfortable.

"See this, Tori?" she said. "Your daddy made me this years ago. It was the first birthday card I ever got and, even after all these years, it still means so much to me." She wiped a tear from her eye - Toby giving her the card was part of her beginning to develop a crush on him back then, though it had been by no means the only reason.

Tori gurgled in response, her tiny hands squeezing her mother's finger. Jessica felt her heart swell with happiness as she looked down at her daughter - almost the spitting image of her father.

"Hello!" A voice called from downstairs as the front door closed. "Jess, I'm home!"

"I'm upstairs, love!" Jessica responded before saying to Tori, "Looks like Daddy's back!"

Tori began wriggling with what Jessica assumed was excitement just as her husband entered the bedroom.

"How are my two favourite girls?" he asked, pressing a kiss onto Jessica's forehead as she handed Tori over to him. He smiled down at his daughter who seemed happy to see him. "Hey there, rose bud!" It was no secret that he utterly adored his daughter - they both did.

"We're fine, love," Jessica told him, smiling. "You get all the shopping?"

"Just about," Toby answered. "I've unpacked the frozen stuff but I'll have to put the rest away."

Jessica looked down at the card in her hand, Toby noticing it. "Is that..."

She nodded. "It's the card you made me."

"How long ago was that? Sixteen years?"

"Whenever I felt sad or lonely, I used to take it out and look at it. It helped me remember that I had people who cared about me. I had to keep all my cards and presents hidden, though. My old neighbor, Mrs Elliott, gave me a skipping rope for my fifth birthday. I remember being so happy. Mom wasn't, though. As soon as she'd left, she took the rope out of my hands and threw it into the bin."

"You never told me that," Toby frowned. "I guess it wasn't such a good memory, though, was it? So you didn't want to remind yourself..."

"That was why the cards you, Nick and Lucas made meant so much to me. I kept them hidden under an loose floorboard. Anything nice I had, my mom would try to take it from me."

Toby kissed her. "I'm sorry you had to suffer like that," he said before wrinkling his nose as an unpleasant smell wafted into his nostrils.

Tori started letting out a high-pitched whimpering sound. She never really cried, instead making a variety of different sounds to communicate her needs. This particular sound made Toby and Jessica exchange terrified looks.

Jessica found herself being handed Tori as Toby said cheerfully, "Looks like someone needs changing. I'd do it myself but I have to unpack the rest of the shopping."

He left the room, chuckling slightly as he heard his wife call out after him in protest.

She stood in the bedroom, card still in her hand. It had helped her to hope again just as he himself had done all those years before. She didn't think she'd ever be able to convey just how much it - and he - truly meant to her.

"Okay then," she said to her daughter. "Let's get you changed now. Next time you do this, don't make it so smelly! Or on second thoughts, make it extra-smelly and I'll get Daddy to change you." They shared nappy changing duties but, more often than not, Toby was good at getting out of the messy ones. So it was payback time.

Her only response was an amused gurgle.


	5. January 5 - Increase

_AN: This one sucks! Some of the words I get might end up producing rather weird oneshots but hopefully some of you will still enjoy it! Hopefully!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1301_

* * *

It was looking like an increasingly ordinary day for our four heroes. Nothing abnormal had happened. It was just the same as it had always been for the past month.

At this particular moment, the friends were relaxing in the Tripp's back garden. Toby and Lucas were in the pool while Nick and Jessica were sitting on the lounge chairs, the latter checking her recent manicure.

"Are any of you guys bored or is it just me?" Toby sighed. He had found himself wishing the Lava Gormiti would do _something_. At least, in Gorm, he felt appreciated for who he was. He missed it.

"We know how you feel, bro," Nick said without looking up from his science magazine. "But you know the rules: we can't go to Gorm unless there's an emergency!"

In Toby's opinion, that was a pretty stupid rule. Surely they should be allowed to check up on their people once in a while?

"Besides, maybe the Lava Gormiti are just taking a break!" Lucas suggested. "Bad guys probably need to take a break from all their evil scheming once in a while!"

Jessica looked worried. "Or they could have gone off the radar because they're planning something big! Something we've never dealt with before!"

This troubled all four of them. None of them would put it past the Lava Gormiti to spend this time finding a new and improved way to destroy them or obtain their powers or possibly even both.

"Well, I know that no matter what their plan is, we'll stop them! Right, guys?" Toby said, looking around at his friends who nodded in agreement.

"Let's just try to make the most of this," Jessica suggested. "If we're right, the Lava Gormiti won't remain out of action for long!"

* * *

Barely two weeks after that conversation, Jessica's prediction proved to be correct. Every day of the week, at varying times, something strange would happen, unexplained fires mostly. The friends, therefore, had to become Lords more often than usual.

On Friday, it was one in the morning. Toby had woken up feeling as though he was on fire. His skin felt like it was burning but when he looked at it, there was nothing. Of course he could have just imagined it, he figured, but it was best not to take chances with the Lava Gormiti's sudden increase in activity.

Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed, considering his options. He could either keep this to himself and risk something worse happening or he could tell the others. Nick was a really heavy sleeper, surprisingly, so it would probably be easier to wake up Jessica. Riskier, perhaps, but easier.

When he opened the door to her room, he saw that she was asleep. "Sorry about this, Jess," he muttered before taking hold of her shoulders and gently shaking her.

The girl blinked, frowning as she was awoken from her sleep. "Toby!" she whisper-exclaimed. "It's..." here she checked the clock on the bedside cabinet, "...ten past one! What are you doing awake?"

Toby sat down on the edge of her bed as he explained what had happened. Jessica listened carefully, frowning. "You could be right," she said finally. "Yesterday I felt like I was burning from the inside out but there was nothing to suggest such a sensation. But what you're saying makes sense - the Lava Gormiti are definitely up to something."

"What?" Toby almost yelled in a panic. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

Jessica shrugged. "Because I thought I was the only one and I figured I could have just imagined it."

That was a fair conclusion, Toby thought to himself. After all, hadn't he considered the exact same thing just ten minutes earlier?

"Okay, so we'll tell the others first thing in the morning," he decided.

"Fine. Now can you please let me go back to sleep?" she said a little huffily. "As much as I love you, I'd like to be functional when daylight comes."

Toby chuckled, getting up and leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Alright, I'll let you get your beauty sleep. Love you."

* * *

About seven hours later, they were downstairs with Nick eating breakfast before they had to leave for school. They were just on their last slices of toast when there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be Lucas," Nick, who had just finished eating said. "I'll get it."

He went to answer the door and returned with Lucas who had his backpack on and looked ready to go. "You guys ready yet?"

"Almost," Toby replied before eating his last bite of toast. Nick added his now empty plate to the pile he had made and took it into the kitchen to be washed. He returned to see the others putting on their backpacks and hastened to do the same.

Suddenly a strange sensation overwhelmed them. Pain rushed down every single part of their bodies. It was as though their very flesh were being burned. Their lungs felt sore and it was difficult for any of them to breathe. The unpleasant smell of burning invaded their nostrils

It was all too familiar for Toby. He hadn't been able to deal with it the first time and he could barely deal with it now. He found himself reaching his hand out...

Jessica felt her pain diminish slightly as something - or someone - grasped her hand firmly and refused to let go. She looked up and saw Toby, his face a mixture of calm, love, anguish as he looked back at her. Despite the situation, all they could think about was each other. If this really was the end, they were glad that the last thing they would see is each other's faces.

As soon as the sensation came, it was gone just as quickly. The friends looked around at each other, two of them confused and two of them grimly reminded of what they had previously experienced.

"W-What just happened?" Lucas asked, his voice shaky.

"I have absolutely no idea..." Nick said, breathing heavily.

Toby and Jessica exchanged a glance as they noticed they were still holding hands. They both knew that they had to tell Nick and Lucas what they had gone through before.

"Um, we might..." Toby said hesitantly. "Earlier this morning, I felt the exact same sensations. It was though there was a fire and yet there was nothing there!"

"What?" Nick and Lucas exclaimed, their eyes widening.

"It happened to me yesterday," Jessica added. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything but it happened so fast, I thought I'd just imagined the whole thing!"

Toby nodded in agreement. "So did I! So what do you think it means? We thought it could have been something to do with the increase of ideas the lavaheads have been having lately," he asked curiously.

"I don't know," Nick said after a while. "But I think it might be worth going to see Old Sage. Perhaps he'll know something."

They ran to grab their respective elements. None of them really knew what it was they'd experienced or why but they knew one thing...

Whatever it was, they had to stop it.

"For the power of the light!" they called out, before transforming into their Lords of Nature personas.

"Come on," Toby said once they'd all transformed. "The sooner we get to the Temple of Light, the sooner we can get some answers, right?"

They gathered their medallions together. When the four of them were put together, they formed the symbol of Supreme Luminous which spun around in the air before enveloping them in light as they disappeared from view...


	6. January 6 - Spray

_AN: I like writing oneshots of their childhood days (as in before the series starts, just to clarify!) Writing them as little kids is very enjoyable for me! Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _930_

* * *

It was a hot day in late July. So hot in fact that temperatures were reaching the high twenties. Nick, Jessica and Lucas were beginning to regret their decision to sit in the back garden a little.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" Jessica complained, fanning herself with her hand, not that it was helping.

"Because it's summer?" Nick, who was trying to distract himself with a good book, snapped.

Lucas sat down on Nick's lounge chair and held up his hands in a placating motion. "Come on, guys. Just because it's hot doesn't mean we should be fighting!"

Jessica sighed. "You're right. Besides - hey, wait, where's Toby?" She looked around but there was no sign of her best friend.

Nick and Lucas also looked. "I think I saw him go into the shed a little while ago," Lucas piped up helpfully.

As they all wondered where he could have gone, suddenly there was a whooshing sound and the three of themselves found themselves being sprayed with water.

Laughter filled the air. The seven year old girl, now thoroughly soaked, along with Nick and Lucas, whirled around to see Toby holding a water pistol and laughing at them. "You should see your faces!" he said, a grin on his face.

"Toby!" Nick and Lucas yelled angrily as they attempted to shake some of the excess water off of themselves. Meanwhile Jessica spotted another water pistol lying on the ground close to where Toby was standing. She got up off her chair and walked over to it, unnoticed by Toby who now had his back to her.

Nick and Lucas stopped yelling and smirked as they noticed Jessica aim the water pistol at Toby's back. Payback time.

Jessica squeezed the trigger. Immediately the blonde boy yelled as he was sprayed from behind by a jet of water. "What was _that_ for?" he demanded to know once she'd stopped.

"Only returning the favour!" she said, smiling innocently at him. Okay, he had to admit it, he had that coming. But now he had an idea...

"Where are you going?" Nick asked, confused, as Toby walked back into the shed, returning a few moments later with two more water pistols. He tossed them to Nick and Lucas before holding his own up.

"Water fight!" he yelled excitedly. The others exchanged glances before grinning. It certainly beat sitting around complaining about the heat. "So here are the rules: there are four of us so we can make two teams. We each get three lives and every time you get sprayed by somebody on the opposite team, you lose a life. Each team will have a safe zone where they're not allowed to be sprayed. If they get sprayed, whoever sprayed them will lose a life but if they stay in the safe zone for more than ten seconds, they'll lose a life themself. Last person standing wins. Oh, and for the record, that person's gonna be me!"

"Yeah, right!" Jessica scoffed. "I'm so going to beat you!"

The two of them glared competitively at one another. Both of them were now determined to win and neither desired to lose. Nick and Lucas simply looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't particularly care if they won or lost.

It was decided that Toby and Nick would form one team while Lucas and Jessica made up the other. Team One - aka Toby and Nick - chose the garage as their safe zone while Team Two - aka Lucas and Jessica - decided on the lounge chairs.

They got into position. "On the count of three," Toby called out. "One...two...three!"

As soon as the word left his mouth, pandemonium filled the air as the four first graders began running around the garden, screaming and laughing as they tried to spray each other with water.

Half an hour later, Nick and Lucas were sitting on the lounge chairs, having run out of lives, mostly from accidentally getting in Toby or Jessica's line of fire.

The two seven year olds were both down to their last life and were darting around the garden, trying to both get a clear shot at the other and make it more difficult for the other to aim for them.

"Give it up, Jess!" Toby called. "We both know who's gonna win this!"

"You're right - we do!" Jessica called back. "And it isn't going to be you!"

She ran out from behind the tree, deciding that if she was going to lose, she wasn't going to stay hidden. Toby had apparently had the same idea as he came out of his hiding place. They both raised their water pistols and squeezed the trigger.

Two screams filled the air as they were both sprayed with water. The initial shock wore off after a while as they thought about one thing - who had won?

They walked over to the lounge chairs to join Nick and Lucas. "I definitely won that. I sprayed you half a second earlier!" Toby said, looking proud of himself.

"And you know that for definite, do you? Because I'm pretty sure I sprayed _you_ first!" Jessica argued.

Nick and Lucas rolled their eyes. Who knew they were _this_ competitive?

"Tell you what," Nick suggested wearily. "Why don't you just call it a draw?"

The two blondes shrugged and nodded. They'd rather both win than both lose, after all.

"You know something?" Lucas said suddenly. "I don't feel hot anymore."


	7. January 7 - Station

_AN: Since all the oneshots so far have been cute and fluffy, I thought I'd hit you with some angst! Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _166_

* * *

Officer Davis hated his job sometimes.

He glanced down at the notes for the particular case then up at the young woman who had been asked to come down to the police station.

One look at her and he hated his job even more.

The woman was clearly expecting a baby.

"Mrs Tripp," he paused to take a breath. "I'm afraid that your husband is...well, he's...dead..."

At first, the woman doesn't react. Then he heard a quiet, "Are you sure?" He nodded, hearing her begin to sob as the reality of the situation hit her all at once.

"We'll need you to identify the body but, in your current condition..." he trailed off.

"I'll do it," she interrupted. "I need to see for myself." He thought he heard her whisper, "Why would he leave me now? He promised!"

"If you'd like to wait here while I make some calls," he said.

Yes, Officer Davis _really_ hated his job.


	8. January 8 - Turn

_AN: This one was so much fun to write! Normally I write them as childhood besties but I thought I'd change up their dynamic a little here. BlizzardStormshipping seriously reminds me of Contestshipping - perhaps that's why they're my only OTPs! Hope you enjoy this one!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1733_

* * *

"What do you mean it's _my_ turn to tutor Toby?"

Sixteen year old Jessica Herleins stood in front of her teacher, arms folded and a scowl on her face.

The red-headed woman let out a heavy sigh. She had known it was a risk asking Jessica to be Toby's tutor, considering how much the two seemed to hate each other, but Jessica was one of the smartest people in the class, next to Toby's younger brother (who had outright refused to be his tutor again).

"I know it's not ideal, but if he doesn't get his grades up, he'll have to repeat this year over again and I know, deep down, you don't want that." Mrs Gulinder said, hoping that Jessica would agree. If she didn't, she had absolutely no idea what she would do next.

Jessica frowned. To be honest, she couldn't care less if Toby had to repeat. It served him right. Though they often partnered up in Gorm, on Earth they were rivals who acted like they couldn't stand each other. They had been forced together through circumstance and she would be happy to spend as little time with him as possible.

One look at her teacher, though, and she found herself saying, "Alright, fine!"

Wait, what?

Well, it looked like she was now tutoring Toby Tripp, the one person in the world she couldn't stand.

Fantastic.

* * *

Toby walked down the school corridor moodily. Mrs Gulinder had cornered him at the end of class that day to inform him that she had managed to find him a new tutor and instructed him to meet them in classroom 2A.

A part of him had been tempted to not bother going at all but another part was curious to know who had been willing to actually attempt to tutor him.

Up until recently, Nick had tutored him but, after they'd had a major disagreement over Toby's poor attitude to learning, Nick had quit, practically at his wit's end about what to do.

As he reached classroom 2A, he peered through the window, trying to see who his new tutor was. He spotted pale blonde hair held up in a ponytail. "Now this is interesting..." he muttered, recognizing the girl immediately. "May as well get this over with."

With that, he opened the door and walked into the classroom.

* * *

Jessica looked up as the door opened. Before he could even say anything, she quickly said, "Look, I don't want to be here any more than you do. So just pay attention and hopefully we won't have to be in each other's company for any longer than necessary."

"Aw, and here I was thinking you'd volunteered just so you could be alone with me!" Toby smirked at her, folding his arms.

"Don't flatter yourself!" she snapped. "The only reason I'm even here is because Mrs Gulinder asked me!" They hadn't even started and she could already feel a headache coming on.

"So where should we start then, _Miss_?" he asked mockingly.

Oh, she was going to kill him...

* * *

It had been an hour since he had arrived and he found it to be a very interesting experience. No, not the tutoring.

 _Her._

He had always enjoyed the way she reacted whenever he made a comment about something she did or said. From a very young age, he had learned how to push her buttons and she responded oh-so-beautifully.

It seemed rather strange but, despite the impression he gave of hating her, he was fascinated by her. He would even go as far as to say he was _attracted_ to her - he didn't _love_ her, that would be ridiculous. Not that he had any idea how or why he had found himself attracted to her in the first place. He still had a feeling it had been for a while, perhaps a long while.

It could have been because, aside from Gina - who was blatantly interested in Lucas - she was the only girl who didn't fawn over him. He might have looked like he enjoyed the attention he got from the female population of the school but, truthfully, he couldn't stand it.

Oddly enough, she didn't seem to have picked up on his feelings for her. He thought he'd made it pretty obvious by volunteering to pair up with her in Gorm and generally being a lot nicer than he was to her on Earth. And, considering that she was a born matchmaker, he found it hilarious that she failed to notice when someone had obvious feelings for her.

At the moment, he was distracting himself by observing her as she talked, instructing him on the topic she'd decided to work on. She definitely wasn't the same scrawny five year old he'd accidentally pranked on the first day of school - incidentally starting their now eleven year rivalry.

"Are you even listening to me?" Whoops. Maybe he'd zoned out too much.

"Um, you were talking about DNA?" he guessed. It was the only thing he actually remembered hearing her say.

"Which stands for?"

"Dry Neon Association?" How was he supposed to know what it meant? Nick was the smart one, not him!

She glared at him. "It's deoxyribonucleic acid, _actually_!" she said icily. "At least try and pay some attention! If I have to be your tutor, which wasn't my choice by the way, you're gonna listen to me and actually start passing classes!" Her hands were on her hips and her eyes seemed to glow with anger.

Yep, she was definitely interesting.

* * *

It had been two months since she'd first started tutoring him. And, despite her misgivings at the beginning, he had actually knuckled down after their disastrous first session and had listened to her every word.

Incredibly she had found herself beginning to enjoy his company. Her twelve year old self would have been horrified. Every Friday - the day that had been arranged - her stomach would fill up with anticipation as she impatiently counted down the hours till the end of classes.

This particular Friday would be their last tutoring session before their test on Monday. Though she'd rather have a tooth pulled than admit it, she was looking forward to seeing him again...wait, she didn't just think that!

As soon as the bell rang, she went to classroom 2A as usual to wait for him. She only had to wait five minutes before he rushed through the door.

"Okay, let's get started," she said, sounding noticeably more enthusiastic than she had at the start of their arrangement. She decided to start on her homework while waiting for him to finish the practise paper.

Occasionally she looked at his direction and caught him frantically look away, as though he had been staring at her just a few moments before. It made her heart beat a little faster which made no sense. She hated him, didn't she? She couldn't possibly have feelings for him.

Except she didn't hate him. Not at all. They hadn't argued in months and she actually considered him a friend now, something she thought would _never_ happen...

* * *

After a while, he walked over to her, completed paper in hand, and cleared his throat, causing her to jump and almost drop her textbook.

"Jeez, Toby, you scared me! Give me some warning next time!" she exclaimed, taking the paper from him to check through it. He was pretty sure he hadn't gotten _every_ question right but he had actually understood the majority of questions on the test. That had to count for something.

He watched her read through the paper, feeling oddly melancholy for some reason. Perhaps it was because he was aware that this could be their last tutor session and he didn't want their time together to end. Two months of her company had led him to realize that they had more in common than he had originally thought and his feelings for her had only gotten stronger.

"Wow," she said eventually. "Looks like our hard work might actually have paid off! Seventy per cent - that's your highest score yet!"

That was great, wasn't it? Yet he couldn't shake the heavy feeling in his stomach. "Guess this is the end, then?" he sighed wearily as she hands him the paper back.

"Guess so..." He could have sworn that she sounded just as miserable about their arrangement ending as he was but that was impossible.

He packed his things into his bag and walked toward the door. "See you around?" he said awkwardly, holding his hand up in a half-hearted wave.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard her call out, "Wait!" He turned his head and saw her open and close her mouth, trying to figure out what to say. She seemed nervous, which struck him as odd as she wasn't usually the nervous type.

"Do you want to, maybe, grab a drink some time?"

 _Did she just ask me on a date?_ was the thought running through the blonde's head. He waited for her to elaborate, explain that she meant just as friends but when she didn't...

"Are you sure you want to?" Why on Earth did he ask that?

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to," she said coyly.

He thought for a moment. This was all he'd wanted for years and he needed a moment to convince himself that this wasn't all just a dream. "Alright," he responded, trying to seem casual but failing as the grin on his face grew wider and wider.

"It's a date, then." Well, that confirmed his suspicions outright.

"A date," he agreed, waiting for her to gather her stuff up before they left the classroom, chatting animatedly.

* * *

Mrs Gulinder smiled while watching the two teens exit the opposite classroom. After teaching them for three years and noticing the unresolved romantic tension between them, she had to do something about it before it drove everyone insane.

"It's about time..." she muttered, as she packed her grade eights' test papers into her briefcase to be marked over the weekend.


	9. January 9 - Terrify

_AN: I hope you guys are enjoying the series so far!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _833_

* * *

"I hope this movie's as good as everyone says!" Toby said to his friends while they were waiting in the queue to pay for their tickets.

"Everyone at school's been saying it is," Nick shrugged.

"But are you sure you can handle it, Toby?" Lucas asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" the blonde questioned, confused. "I can handle horror movies just fine!"

"There could be you-know-whats," Nick pointed out mischievously. "Spi-"

Toby let out a whimper. "Please, no. Please, no," he repeated over and over again.

"Don't worry, Toby!" Jessica piped up. "If it gets too scary for you, you could always hold my hand!"

She and the others laughed as Toby muttered defensively, "I won't get scared!"

Soon enough, the queue grew shorter and, in no time at all, the friends were paying for their tickets and heading to theatre four.

When they found it, they saw that it was pretty packed. It didn't come as much of a surprise to them, considering how popular the movie was at the moment. _Everyone_ wanted to see it.

Luckily they managed to find four empty seats, made their way over to them and sat down, popcorn boxes in hand, as they waited for the film to start. A couple sitting in front of them had already started making out. "Good for them..." Toby muttered under his breath, still annoyed that Lucas and Nick had just invited themselves on his date with Jessica. Of course he couldn't really be angry at them - they didn't know he and Jessica were dating. No one did.

The movie began and a hush fell over the audience. Aside from the movie itself, the only sounds that could be heard were rustling or slurping as someone ate or drank.

As the movie progressed, the four friends were disappointed to find that it was not as scary as they'd been led to believe. In fact, some of the ways the characters had met their end had been hilarious in an odd sort of way.

It was all about to change, however. The remaining characters had run into the forest for safety and had wandered into the lair of some kind of...

"S-Spiders!" Toby screamed, almost throwing his popcorn all over the people behind him. He buried his face in Jessica's shoulder, clinging onto her for dear life. A few people in front of them looked around at them with looks that were clearly telling them to be quiet.

The spiders themselves were relatively small. Nick whispered, "I thought you said you weren't afraid of spiders anymore!"

"Just let me know when they're gone, okay!" Toby hissed back as Jessica patted his head sympathetically.

Nick nodded his head and continued to watch the film. Suddenly he had a brilliant idea and whispered it into Lucas' ear. Lucas grinned and agreed. Toby pulled pranks on them all the time - it was about time he got a taste of his own medicine.

"Hey, Toby, they're gone now!" he said, struggling not to laugh.

Toby started to lift his head off Jessica's shoulder then stopped. "Are you sure?" he asked suspiciously, his voice muffled.

"Positive!" Lucas said cheerfully.

Jessica frowned, wondering what the two boys were up to. "Hold on..." she started to say.

Toby looked up at the screen and promptly let out the loudest scream of his life and for good reason. He hadn't been the only one, either.

The small spiders had been replaced with giant spiders the size of cars that were currently chasing the characters through the forest.

Jessica looked at Nick and Lucas disapprovingly as they laughed themselves silly at their joke working so well. "I don't think it's all that funny!" she said, gesturing at Toby. "Look at him!"

Toby was rocking back and forth, whimpering and muttering incoherently. Jessica just about managed to make out, "spiders...nightmares..."

"Toby? You okay?" she asked, gently placing her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, noticing that he was shaking and tensed up.

Lucas and Nick exchanged looks, now feeling a little guilty. "Maybe we took it too far..." Lucas murmured uneasily.

"Too right you did!" Jessica, who overheard him, whispered. She had managed to manoeuvre Toby so that he was in the same position he'd been in before. Her arms were around him in an embrace and she was relieved when she noticed him relaxing and his breathing slowing. "He's probably going to have nightmares for a week!"

"We're sorry!" Nick said, shrinking under Jessica's intense glare - an angry Jessica was not someone to be messed with. "We just wanted him to know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a prank."

"There's a difference between pranking someone and scaring the living daylights out of them!" Jessica argued back.

The movie eventually came to an end to everyone's - Toby's - relief.


	10. January 10 - Button

_AN: Just wanted to point out that Final Fantasy X is my favourite game out of the series that I've played (VII comes in a very close second)! Yes, you do actually have to dodge 200 consecutive lightning bolts (well, I suppose it's optional) and yes, blitzball really is the most boring sport ever (even though they make it seem really awesome). And just as a disclaimer, I own neither Gormiti or the Final Fantasy franchise (I do own a copy of FFX - which I haven't played for a while). Hope you enjoy the oneshot!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _503_

* * *

"Not again!" Jessica heard her boyfriend yell frustratedly. "I just needed three more!"

She walked into his room and saw him sitting on his bed, controller in hand, as he used the analogue stick to move around the character onscreen.

The word _Pause_ appeared in the middle of the screen as he turned to face her. "Oh, hey, Jess," he smiled, his frustration at the game forgotten at the sight of her.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, looking at the screen before letting out a happy gasp. "You're playing _Final Fantasy X!_ That's my favourite game in the series!"

Toby gaped at her. "I didn't know you liked it too! Where are you up to?"

"At the moment, Mt. Gagazet, just before you battle Seymour Flux," she responded. "As for you, I'm guessing you're either really far behind me or you're trying to get the Venus sigil!"

"Second one," he confirmed. "You have to dodge two hundred consecutive lightning bolts in a row! _Two hundred!_ I'd rather fight Yunalesca a million times! No, wait, I'd rather play a million games of blitzball!"

"Which is infinitely more boring than the opening full motion video made it seem," Jessica pointed out. "I've only played the one game of it so far and I almost fell asleep holding the controller!"

Toby picked up the controller. "And I need the stupid sigil to power up Lulu's Onion Knight. What kind of name is that for a celestial weapon anyway? It doesn't sound all _that_ intimidating!" He pressed the start button to unpause the game. "Well, wish me luck. If I fail again - which I probably will - you can try."

Jessica watched the screen as the character ran around. Every time the screen flashed, Toby would hit the x button to make the character - which he had obviously named after himself - jump back to avoid getting struck. She found it ironic that he could focus so intensely on a game but have the attention span of a gnat when it came to school. Still, she wouldn't change him for the world.

After about twenty minutes, he had just passed the one hundred and fifty mark - according to Jessica's mental calculations anyway. His body was rigid and his eyes were glued to the screen, afraid to look away for a second.

Once more the screen flashed. Instinctively he pressed the x button to make the character dodge. Unfortunately, for him, another lightning bolt flashed a fraction of a second later, hitting the character and resetting the counter to zero.

"What did I tell you?" he told Jessica as he handed her the controller. "It's not possible!"

"Well, you don't know how good I'll be at it yet! I might not even dodge _ten!"_ Jessica said before concentrating on the screen.

* * *

Needless to say, Jessica managed to dodge two hundred consecutive lightning bolts, seriously impressing Toby.

"Jess, you're amazing!"


	11. January 11 - Separate

_AN: This one kind of sucks. I had no idea what to write for it so I just kind of winged it. Also apologies for it being a bit late - I had a migraine so I was trying to avoid using my phone until it eased off._

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):**_ _613_

* * *

Both Nick and Lucas supposed they should have noticed it a little sooner than they did. Okay, a _lot_ sooner.

In their defense, nobody else had noticed the budding relationship between Toby and Jessica blossom from friendship into love with competitive rivalry keeping them on their toes.

The two had started out as best friends, first meeting at the age of five. They were both highly stubborn and also very optimistic people. Of course, over the years, they'd had their disagreements but they always came out of it, their bond stronger than ever.

Discovering their status as the Lords of Nature had been the turning point, they think. It was as though they now had two separate relationships. On Earth, they were friends but also rivals. They'd lost count of the number of times they'd had to watch them compete in a competition but suffice to say, it happened a lot.

Meanwhile, in Gorm, their rivalry took a backseat. They had to focus on saving not only their world but a whole other dimension they would never have known existed if it wasn't for the timely visit of a small lizard named Razzle.

They couldn't pinpoint when exactly their friends' feelings for each other would have changed. It could have happened at any point and they hadn't noticed.

What they had noticed is that, after Supreme Luminous sacrificed himself for the selfless purpose of saving Gorm from Obscurio's evil, their once separate relationships had begun to merge into one.

Neither of them saw it as a coincidence that they partnered up whenever the group had to go their separate ways. In fact, there had been times when they had outright insisted upon it.

The trust they had in each other seemed to have grown exponentially. Now they were partners, not just in Gorm but on Earth too. They were still rivals, yes, but it seemed less important to them than whatever it was that was going on between them.

After they had finally recovered their orbs from Magor, their memories were a little blurry, a side effect of the curse according to Old Sage. One thing that stuck out in Lucas' mind was how Toby had been able to recognize that something wasn't right.

He had remembered Jessica's dislike of the lava-like shade of orange.

It was this that Lucas had mentioned to Nick. This, that caused the wheels in both of their heads to start turning. Neither of them, Lucas especially, were all that astute when it came to romance but they couldn't help wondering if something was going on between their friends and if that something was more than platonic.

There were times over the years when they seemed to be in their own little world. As if nothing else mattered but the two of them. Even as young children, they'd been ridiculously close and protective of each other. If anybody attempted to hurt one, the other would immediately jump to their defense.

Despite all this, they weren't sure that it was a good time to confront them about what was going on. For one thing, they seemed to want to keep it a secret. It didn't surprise them - a relationship was special in many ways so they probably didn't want to share it with everybody straightaway. They also could have been throwing things way out of proportion. But they had the deepest instinctual feeling that they weren't. They were convinced one hundred percent.

Something was going on between Toby and Jessica.

It would take another two years until their friends finally confirmed their suspicions.


	12. January 12 - Forego

_AN: Hope this one is better than yesterday's! I also hope you guys are enjoying the series so far. Any questions about it, feel free to contact me on my social media or PM me. Once again, enjoy._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _494_

* * *

Toby stared at the mess he had somehow managed to create in the kitchen. A charred glob was stuck to the bottom of the pain and bits of china littered the worktop from when he'd accidentally dropped the plate.

"Why does this _always_ happen?" he murmured as he hunted through the cupboards for the cleaning products.

He could have easily called Jessica down but he didn't want to stress her out. It wouldn't be good for either her or their baby, who he insisted was definitely a girl. They had foregone being told their baby's gender at the twenty week ultrasound last week because they wanted to keep it a surprise. So, while he was adamant it was a girl, Jessica was sure it was a boy.

Of course neither of them had ever been able to resist the lure of competition. They had decided that whoever was right about the baby's gender would get to choose the name.

Besides he had wanted to allow her to relax for once which was the sole reason why he had attempted to cook breakfast. "Maybe I should have just made sandwiches instead," he mused as he started cleaning up the broken plate. He decided it was probably for the best to forego telling her what had happened.

After the plate was cleared away, he turned his attention to the glob of charred stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan. "Better get this done," he said to himself.

Jessica came down barely five minutes after he'd finally managed to scrub the pot clean and put it away. He'd spent the better part of an hour getting the kitchen spotless.

"Morning, love," he called, seeing her walk into the living room.

"You were up early," she called back. "What were you doing?"

Toby closed the cupboard door as quietly as possible and walked into the living room to join his wife. "Just felt like stretching my legs a bit, that's all," he said, putting his arm around her. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Achy. What else is new?" she responded wearily. "But I guess I'm kind of happy too. This is the first baby that's made it past the first trimester. I have a good feeling about him...or her."

"I know what you mean," Toby said to her as she leaned against him. It was her seventh pregnancy since they first started trying for a baby two years ago. For some unexplained reason, she suffered miscarriages in the first trimester every time. It devastated them both naturally. For this baby to have made it through this far filled them up with hope.

Jessica suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit her. She groaned as it worsened when she smelt an unpleasant aroma, one that smelled all too familiar. "Toby," she said, a look of false calm on her face. "Did you try to cook breakfast again?"


	13. January 13 - Snow

_AN: Ahhh, another cute and fluffy oneshot! Not sure whether you guys prefer these or the angsty ones. Maybe you enjoy them all. Who knows? Anyway I hope you enjoy this one!_

 ** _Word count (excluding author's note):_** _1262_

* * *

"Guys, look outside!" Jessica exclaimed, pointing out of the Tripp's front window.

The boys, who had been engaged in a riveting game of snap, rushed over and let out cries of joy as they saw a fine layer of fluffy white snow on the ground. Flakes of it were still falling, leaving the four friends in awe.

Toby eagerly rushed towards the front door."Come on, guys!" he said joyfully. "Let's go out there and enjoy the snow!"

"Not so fast, young man!"

The blonde looked around to see his mother frowning at him. "We were only gonna go outside and play, Mom!" he said sheepishly.

"Well, if you're going to go outside, at least put on your coats first. I don't want any of you catching colds! And when you come back in, I may just have a surprise for you all!" Mrs Tripp told them.

"What kind of surprise, Mom?" Nick asked curiously.

Mrs Tripp merely shook her head, indicating that she wasn't going to reveal it.

The friends barreled into the hall to put on their coats, hats, scarves and gloves before heading outside.

* * *

"So what are we gonna do first?" Lucas asked, looking around at the snow. "There are loads of things we can do! How do we decide?"

"I want to have a snowball fight!" Toby exclaimed eagerly.

"How about we build a snowman?" Nick suggested. "The snow's deep enough."

"What do you think we should do first, Jess?" Lucas questioned, seeing Jessica standing a little way over.

Jessica looked up. She didn't know how to tell her friends that she'd never played in the snow before. "I don't really mind," she said quietly. "They both sound fun to me."

She started to walk over to them but slipped and fell, landing on her back. "Ow!" she cried out.

"Jess!" the boys yelled in worry, running over to the girl. "Are you okay?"

Jessica frowned, wiggling her limbs. "I think so..." she said. "Just a bit sore, I guess."

Toby suddenly had a brilliant idea. "Hey, have you ever made a snow angel before?" he asked her.

She looked down at the ground. "To tell you guys the truth, this is my first time playing in the snow. I've never made snow angels or a snowman. I've never had a snowball fight before."

The boys exchanged horrified glances, wondering how Jessica could have lived for almost six years and never played in the snow. Toby wondered privately whether her mom - the scariest woman in the world - had anything to do with it.

Suddenly they flopped down into the snow beside her, leaving gaps between them. "What are you guys doing?" she asked, confused.

"We're gonna teach you how to play in the snow!" Lucas and Nick told her cheerfully.

"Starting with how to make snow angels!" Toby added, grinning at her.

She grinned back, feeling a lot better about admitting the truth. She had been a little scared that they might have made fun of her or laughed at her. But they were her friends. They cared.

The boys began to swing their arms in the snow. After watching for a few moments, Jessica imitated them. Eventually they stopped and then stood up, turning around to admire their handiwork. Four snow angels imprinted in the snow.

"They're so pretty!" she exclaimed happily.

"So what should we do next?" Nick asked her.

"You're asking me?" Jessica said, pointing to herself.

"Well, since this is your first time playing in the snow, we figured we'd let you decide what we should do!" Toby told her.

"So it's up to you," Lucas added. "Whatever you want to do, that's what we'll do."

Jessica thought for a moment. "Well, we could build a snowman and then have a snowball fight afterwards?"

The boys grinned and nodded. Toby and Nick started rolling a snowball while Lucas showed Jessica how to do the same.

"They're making the body and we're making the head. So our snowball doesn't need to be as big as theirs," he explained to her.

The head of the snowman was quickly done so they ran over to help Nick and Toby shape the body.

Once they'd finally made the body big enough, they lifted the head onto it.

"Now all it needs are some arms!" Lucas said, walking around the garden until he found two twigs. He came back and gently poked them into each side of the snowman's body.

"Don't forget his eyes, mouth and buttons!" Nick added, having collected a small number of stones. He placed four on the body as buttons, two near the top of the head for eyes and the rest in an upwards curve near the bottom of the head to represent a smiling mouth.

Toby looked at it. "Just one thing missing," he declared. "Be back in a minute!" He ran inside, returning a minute later with a carrot which he placed between the eyes and mouth of the snowman.

They stood back to look at their now finished creation. "Awesome!" they said together.

Nick looked at Toby as he said, "And now it's time for what Toby's been waiting for!"

"You mean it's time for the snowball fight now?" Toby said eagerly. Suddenly he was hit by a cluster of snow, causing him to sputter. "Who did that?" he asked.

The others didn't respond until Jessica begin giggling. "Sorry," she squeaked out. "I couldn't resist!"

Toby smirked, forming a snowball and holding it up, calling out to the others who prepared themselves, "Let battle commence!"

* * *

Eventually the four friends ran inside, their cheeks red, filled with the kind of joy only obtained by spending time with those who cared.

After taking their outdoor winter gear off, they walked into the living room to see a plate on the table.

"Cookies!" they exclaimed.

"Freshly baked, too." Mrs Tripp told them as they stared longingly at the plate. "Feel free to help yourselves!"

"Thanks, Mom!" Nick and Toby said.

"Thanks, Mrs Tripp!" Jessica and Lucas echoed.

With that, the four friends shared out the cookies between them, making sure that they all got an equal share. The day had been one they were certain not to forget.

* * *

Jessica watched her husband pointing at the snow and explaining what it was to their infant daughter who let out a gurgle in response.

Seeing the snow made her reminisce about the day they'd all spent in the snow so many years before. That day was what had made her realize that Toby, Nick and Lucas really were her friends.

"It's a pretty sight, isn't it, rosebud?" she heard Toby saying to Tori. "One day we'll make the biggest snowman you ever saw!"

She smiled, getting up and walked over to them, resting her head against her husband's shoulder. Tori let out a gurgle upon seeing her and she laughed at her daughter's tiny arms waving about in her direction, a sign that meant she wanted her mother to hold her now.

Toby carefully handed her over. "Do you think she'll like the snow?" he asked.

"I'm sure she will," Jessica responded, stroking Tori's forehead with her finger as she yawned sleepily. "In fact, I have a feeling she'll love it even more than we do. But, for the time being, she's due for her nap."


	14. January 14 - Play

_AN: I am so sorry I didn't get this uploaded on time! I had this mostly finished, only to lose the entire thing which was very frustrating. Still, on the bright side, you guys get two oneshots in one day! Hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):**_ _1125_

* * *

The four seventh grade students stared at the piece of paper in Nick's hands. It was their drama homework set by Miss Pembrooke which entailed working in groups of four or five and using the characters listed to create a small play which they would perform to the rest of the class in five days time.

"Okay, so we have a mercenary, a ninja girl, the king and queen, the servant, some evil ninjas..." Nick started to say.

"So obviously we'll have to play more than one part," Lucas realized.

"I call dibs on the mercenary!" Toby exclaimed before asking in confusion, "What's a mercenary?"

Jessica giggled. "A mercenary is someone who makes money through unethical means," she told him. Seeing that her explanation didn't seem to help, she added, "They get paid to do the dirty work."

"Right, so Toby is the mercenary..." Nick muttered, taking a pen and writing down Toby's name next to the word Mercenary.

"I'll be the ninja...and the servant!" Jessica offered, adding the second part in as she had a brilliant idea for where she wanted the play to go.

"Shouldn't you be the queen?" Lucas questioned and Jessica shook her head.

"So I guess Lucas and I are sharing the rest of the parts. Oh, and I'll narrate. Every play has a narrator!" Nick said as he wrote everything down on the piece of paper.

After that, the friends began discussing ideas for how they wanted their play to go. Jessica gave them her suggestion and the boys agreed to it, figuring it was the best idea. A script of sorts was written down - it was merely a draft that would most likely be edited over time.

They decided that they would practise in the garden as it gave them more room to run around, if necessary.

"Okay, so does everyone know what they're doing?" Jessica asked and the boys nodded. She then turned to Nick and gestured for him to begin.

* * *

 _It seemed like an ordinary day in the town of Venture Falls. People went about their daily business, including a rather mysterious fellow named the Wild_ _Mercenary._

 _A horse stopped a short distance from the mercenary and the king's servant dismounted._

 **"You are the one they call the Wild Mercenary, no?"**

 **"Who's asking?"**

 **"The King and Queen request your presence at the castle immediately, sir. Come, we must hurry."**

* * *

 _At the castle, the mercenary was taken to the royal chambers. He lowered himself to one knee as the royals entered the room._

 **"Rise, mercenary. We have one thing to ask of you. Years ago, our daughter, the Princess, disappeared. We want you to find her and return her to us."**

 **"Succeed and you will be rewarded handsomely. Fail and you will never again accept another job."**

 _The mercenary felt he had no choice but to agree to the job. He valued his life and he had yet to fail a job. Finding a lost princess? Easy._

* * *

 _The mercenary wandered through the forest, with only himself for company and a small dagger for protection. The forest had a bad reputation and it was said to be impossible to make it all the way through unscathed._

 **"Halt, stranger! These woods belong to us! You will go no further!"**

 _Fearing nothing and no one, the mercenary continued forward, a decision he would soon regret._

 _Several shurikens flew through the air at deadly speed. The mercenary ran for cover but was accosted by cloaked people at every nook or cranny. Ninjas!_

 _There were two ninja villages near town. One, whose ninjas wore white, practised the art for benevolent purposes. The other, whose ninjas wore black, only sought to use what they had learned for their own malevolent desires._

 _The mercenary fought against them with his trusty dagger. So far, it had yet to fail him._

 **"Looks like you could use some help!"**

 _A mystery ninja, this one dressed in grey, stepped out and helped drive away the evil ninjas. They then approached the mercenary who eyed them with mistrust._

 **"That was a close one! You should be way more careful!"**

 **"You're awfully peppy for a ninja. I'm surprised you can even do your job."**

 **"That's rude. I'll have you know I was the best ninja in my village!"**

 **"Was?"**

 **"Until I was disowned by my family and banished from the village!"**

 **"For being too peppy?"**

 _The ninja nodded, still looking far too cheerful. The mercenary looked around for the exit and saw that they were close to it. He began walking away, not wanting to waste any more time._

 **"Hey, I'm still talking to you. You know, mister, you have the worst manners ever!"**

 **"And you're the worst ninja ever."**

 **"Take that back! I have skills - I saved you. Try being grateful!"**

 **"Well, if you insist upon joining me, don't get in my way."**

* * *

 _The mercenary and his unwanted companion travelled throughout the entire kingdom, fighting many creatures and people to try and find the lost princess._

 _After several days, the mercenary began to lose hope. For the first time, he would fail a job. He held his head as he and the ninja returned to the castle, heading straight to the royal chambers._

 **"Your majesties, I searched for many days and nights but-"**

 _The queen held up her hand to stop him, focusing intently on the ninja kneeling beside him._

 **"Remove your hood, ninja."**

 _As the ninja did as she was commanded, the king and queen let out simultaneous gasps._

 **"I have failed you."**

 **"Congratulations, mercenary, you have succeeded."**

 **"I-I do not understand..."**

 **"You have brought our daughter home to us."**

 _The mercenary was still confused. The only person he'd brought with him was...the ninja!_

 **"You mean I'm** **the lost princess?"**

 _The ninja-turned-princess embraced the king and queen, her parents, finally reunited with them._

* * *

Nick chose to improvise the ending. He looked at Lucas, winking at him briefly before they continued.

 **"Mercenary, you will be rewarded as promised."**

 **"I have another suggestion. You will take our daughter's hand in marriage."**

"What?" Toby and Jessica both yelled, forgetting they were supposed to be in character. They were blushing hard and refused to look each other in the eye.

"Improv! Play along!" Nick hissed at them, he and Lucas trying not to laugh at their embarrassment.

 _The mercenary looked from the king to the queen and finally to the princess before taking a deep breath._

 **"I accept."**

 **"Great! Now I can teach you not to be such a misery guts!"**

 _It seemed the mercenary would have to face his one hidden fear._

 _Settling down._

 _Fin._


	15. January 15 - Noise

_AN: Well, here's the actual one shot for today! Hope you like it and I'll try to keep up as best I can. Thank you all for being so understanding and patient. It really helps me out 🙂_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _625_

* * *

As a child, Jessica hated silence. She remembered being at home with her parents, unable to say a word, in fear of her mother losing her temper. It happened far more often than it should have done.

She had learnt very quickly that she would get no sympathy if she cried so she had taught herself not to cry at all.

At mealtimes, the only sounds she would hear were her mother yelling at her father or her and her father's weary sighs. Her father sighed more often than he spoke. He gave off a constant aura of sadness, which contrasted with her mother's constant anger.

* * *

She was surprised and a little caught off guard, therefore, the first time she went to Toby and Nick's house.

The house was full of happiness and laughter. Mrs Tripp was singing merrily as she prepared tea for them. Mr Tripp was animatedly discussing something with Nick, perhaps something he'd learned at school, while Toby was playing a video game.

Her eyes had lit up immediately but she stayed quiet. She was used to being yelled at by her mother to shut up if she spoke at home.

"What's wrong?" Toby asked her, noticing his new friend seemed a little quiet. She shook her head and smiled, telling him she was fine. "You _can_ speak, you know. Your mom isn't here."

"I-I can?" Hope filled her up like water filling a glass.

"Sure, you can. You can be as loud as you like here. We won't mind."

The girl thought for a moment then shyly asked him, "Could I play too?"

Before she could second-guess herself, she was handed the controller and looked up to see her friend smiling at her. She smiled back, feeling weirdly emotional.

She surprised them both by suddenly hugging him very tightly, whispering, "Thank you."

"Don't...mention...it..." Toby managed to gasp out. Jessica realized she was hugging him too tightly and tried to let go, only for the blonde boy to hold on to her. "You don't have to let go. I don't mind hugging you when you're sad."

"I'm not sad..." she admitted slowly. "I'm happy. It's so noisy here - I love it. Everyone feels so alive."

"You really like it here?" he asked. "There are times when even I think we're _too_ noisy!"

She shook her head. "It's a good kind of noise. You all get along and care about one another. I wish I..." she trailed off, not really wanting to admit that she wished her parents acted like they cared about her. She knew her dad did - he was just too sad to show it - but her mom couldn't care less about her and it hurt.

"Wanna play versus?" Toby asked her, wanting to cheer her up. "I'll ask Dad for the other controller!" She nodded and watched him rush off to ask about the other controller.

When it was plugged in, they began playing the game. Jessica soon found herself laughing and exclaiming with joy every time she managed to win.

All good things soon come to an end. After they'd been playing for an hour, occasionally swapping with Nick so they'd all get a chance to play, Mrs Tripp announced that it was time for Jessica to go home.

Jessica's face fell. She'd been having fun and she didn't want to go home. She knew better than to make a fuss, though - she might not have been allowed to visit anymore.

She cheered up immensely when the Tripps told her she was welcome to visit anytime.

It wasn't goodbye. Not really.


	16. January 16 - Start

_AN: Yet again another one that most likely sucks because it took me ages to figure out how to write a oneshot based on the word. Someone out there will like it, I hope._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1015_

* * *

The first time they met, they clicked instantly. Despite being only five years old, they saw themselves in each other. Each had a desire to make the other happy the best way they knew how.

 _It was the start of a beautiful friendship._

Seeing each other at judo classes for the first time unlocked a competitiveness within each of them. They only desired to best each other, no matter what the event. Second place wasn't good enough for them. Only winning mattered.

 _It was the start of a fierce rivalry._

When they became Lords of Nature, things changed. They learned lessons, valuable ones. He learned to accept his responsibilities while she learned that it was okay to ask for help sometimes. More and more often, they came to depend on each other. Without a shadow of a doubt, they trusted each other more than they felt they could trust themselves.

 _It was the start of an unbreakable trust._

Time went on and the bond between them only grew. The fire of attraction burned hotter and hotter. They would confide in each other their secrets - worries, fears, hopes, dreams - knowing that the other would sooner die than reveal what was shared with anyone else. It seemed only inevitable that they ended up falling for each other, falling hard. If asked, they would insist they were still falling.

 _It was the start of their profound love._

* * *

A fourteen year old Jessica stared absent-mindedly at the homework she was supposed to be helping her boyfriend, Toby, with. For some reason, though, she just couldn't focus - something she often ended up scolding Toby for.

Said boy watched her stare at his textbook for a full minute before deciding to try and bring her back to reality. She had a tendency to daydream sometimes, a habit he found adorable. But then, didn't he find everything about her adorable?

"Um, Jess?" he said, before clearing his throat and trying again. "Jess?"

The second attempt seemed to work as she looked at him, clarity filling her eyes as she remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. "Sorry about that, Toby. I just got lost in thought, I guess," she explained, giving him a sheepish smile and attempting to return her attention to the task at hand. But Toby wasn't about to let it slip.

"Must have been a pretty important thought," he said as he moved closer to her. "Fancy sharing?"

"Well..." she began hesitantly before smiling mischievously. "If I tell you, you have to promise to focus every time we work on your homework!"

"Hmm, you drive a hard bargain, Jess!" he told her. She wanted him to focus on homework? How was he supposed to do that when he was in the company of the most beautiful girl he'd ever met? He found everything about her - personality, spirit, skills - undeniably beautiful. In fact, he still had trouble believing she was actually his girlfriend. There were times he would secretly pinch himself to make sure the past year wasn't just a dream.

Eventually he nodded to her, agreeing to her terms. He could have found a way around it but his desire to know what had made her zone out far outweighed his issues with focus.

"I was just thinking about the start, you know. When we first met. Imagine how different things could have been if we'd never met or if we'd never become friends."

Jessica stopped suddenly, feeling Toby's hand on her shoulder. "I don't even want to think about that. But I have a feeling that we were supposed to become friends. Not just you and me, but Nick and Lucas too," he told her.

"You mean Fate brought us together?" she questioned, not quite sure whether she believed it or not, and saw him nod.

"Now that we're on the subject of the start, there's one thing I've been wanting to know." Jessica could have sworn she saw Toby smirking at her as he asked, "When did you start liking me?"

She couldn't blame him for being curious. When they'd gotten together the year before, she had simply told him she'd liked him for a long time but had never revealed just how long. She supposed it was about time she told him.

"Since I was about six years old, as far as I can remember. I didn't realize it at first, though, not until I heard Gina describe everything I felt when I was around you when she was talking about her crush on Lucas. And suddenly everything made sense in my eight year old brain - I had a crush on you."

Toby looked at her, still smiling. "Well, that's a bit of a coincidence."

"W-What do you mean?" Jessica asked, completely nonplussed. "You said you started liking me at the judo tournament...when we were twelve! I was six! Where's the coincidence?"

"I never told you this but I actually had a crush on you way back when...I think I was about six, maybe seven? Remember how I used to hug you all the time? Over the years, though, I always thought I stopped fancying you. Then the judo tournament came along and the crush I thought I'd gotten over suddenly came back in full force. It took a while to admit it _was_ a crush. I spent most of my time trying to convince myself you were just a friend to me until I got to the point where I couldn't deny it anymore."

They both laughed, unable to believe that, one way or another, they had liked each other for far longer than they'd known.

"There is one thing we still need to start," Jessica pointed out suddenly.

"What's that?" Toby asked, hoping he could entice her into forgetting the unofficial bet they'd made.

"Your homework."

 _Soon, unbeknownst to them, they would experience... the start of the rest of their lives._


	17. January 17 - Belief

_AN: Hope this one's alright. And I hope you're all having a good day/night!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _466_

* * *

When it was discovered that Toby and Jessica were in a romantic relationship, quite a few people were of the belief that Jessica would have been much better suited with Nick.

Nick himself firmly dismissed this. He had only ever seen Jessica as a sister. Besides he wasn't that way inclined.

Every time the couple went out, somebody was bound to give them their well-meaning - in their view - opinion. And they would simply smile and walk away.

But being told that you weren't good enough for the one you loved was bound to take a toll at some point...

* * *

Toby sat on his bed, staring down at the pillow he'd just savagely punched a few times. Some of his relatives had been invited round for dinner. One of the hot topics they had discussed was his relationship with Jessica.

He had tried to ignore it for the most part but a question he had overheard one of his aunts asking Jessica had really gotten to him.

 _"Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with Nick?"_

At this point, he had made the excuse of not feeling well and left to go to his room. He hated the feeling of knowing that his relatives were right. It hurt, though. All his life, he had been compared to his younger brother. He had to endure his relatives blatantly showing Nick favouritism while often ignoring his achievements entirely.

His one comfort was knowing that Nick definitely did not like Jessica in the same way he did. He had vehemently protested at their relatives insistence that Jessica and he were better matched. In fact, Nick had told them he disagreed with them wholeheartedly.

A gentle knock on the door interrupted his train of thought. He considered telling whoever it was that he just wanted to be alone for now but the person opened the door before he could speak.

"I have just about had enough of people telling me I chose the wrong person to date. Why can't they just mind their own business?" Jessica ranted as she walked over and sat down next to him. He looked at her and her expression softened as she asked gently, "Are you okay?"

"Not really..." he admitted. She had a feeling he would say that. He had been uncharacteristically quiet all day and when he had left, she had soon followed. After a few moments, he spoke again. "Do you think you'd ever leave me for anyone better?"

This question makes her angry. Not at him but at anyone who made him feel like he wasn't enough for her. She knew how it felt to be told you weren't good enough.

"You'll always be more than good enough for me, Toby."


	18. January 18 - Floor

_AN: So sorry about this! I had a headache for most of the day and I had to go to pick up my mum's prescription (that wasn't even at the chemist...)so that wasted most of yesterday morning. This one is weird. I really shouldn't write with a headache. Oh, well, enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1783_

* * *

One thing they can both remember about their earliest school days is the floor talk. Every Friday afternoon, the whole class would sit in a circle on the floor and either listen to Miss McAllister tell them stories or the class, one at a time, would talk about how their days had gone and how they were feeling.

Some students were more than willing to share what had happened to them. Others probably wished the ground would swallow them up when it was their turn to talk. But they all enjoyed the stories Miss McAllister told them and, if they were lucky enough, one student would earn a reward for good behaviour.

So when Toby noticed that Jessica seemed abnormally withdrawn, he decided to take some inspiration from his old teacher. At the very least, it could cheer her up. And that was all he wanted. To see her smile again.

His girlfriend protested lightly as he pulled her up off his bed, only to sit her down on the floor. She stared at him, eyebrow raised, as he sat down on his bed.

Clearing his throat, he spoke while doing his best Miss McAllister impression, "Okay, we're having a floor talk now. Jessica, you don't seem like yourself. Would you like to share what you're thinking with us?"

Jessica started giggling uncontrollably. "Okay, stop! That sounded nothing like Miss McAllister!"

"Maybe not, but it made you laugh, didn't it?" Toby pointed out. "But, seriously, are you okay?" He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about her.

The girl let out a quiet sigh. "I guess I...kind of have...a headache..." she admitted eventually, hoping he wouldn't overreact. It wasn't that bad! Okay, so her head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer but, other than that, it was manageable.

"A bad one, right?" Toby said knowingly. Jessica was the type who would downplay any pain or sickness she experienced due to being just plain stubborn. It more often than not ended up coming back to bite her.

She begrudgingly nodded. He was as stubborn as she was and could somehow always tell when she wasn't being honest. The next thing she knew, he had joined her on the floor. "You know, I had a really bad headache once. I couldn't sleep - I kept tossing and turning - so I decided, for no real reason, to try sleeping on the floor. And, as weird as it sounds, it helped ease the pain!"

"You want me to sleep on the floor?" Jessica asked incredulously. "That is so not happening!"

"Well, in your case, it would probably be best to take some painkillers and see how you go," Toby said sheepishly. "Come on, do you honestly think I'd make you sleep on the floor?"

Jessica smiled at the second part, knowing he'd rather sleep on the floor himself than allow her to. "How do you know I haven't already taken some?" she questioned.

Toby rolled his eyes at her. "Because I know you, Jess," he responded. "You're the type who likes to wait it out and soldier on when you're sick or hurt rather than take painkillers and rest up a while. If you ask Mom, she'll give you some."

He had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy. Sure enough, Jessica stubbornly shook her head. "I'll be fine by tomorrow morning," she insisted.

"Alright," he said, as he stood up and started moving towards the door. "I'll go ask myself, then." He had only made it halfway across the room when he felt something - Jessica's hand - grab hold of his ankle and pull hard, sending him crashing down onto the floor, almost landing right on top of her. "What's the big idea?" he protested before frowning as he saw her wince and clutch her head, proof in his eyes that she was in more pain than she was willing to admit.

She rubbed her head with her free hand. The pain was getting worse but she wasn't going to give in to it that easily. "Could you come here a moment?" she asked her boyfriend, hoping that her voice didn't betray how much her head was actually hurting.

"What do you need?" Toby asked as he moved closer to her. He had a feeling he'd do anything she asked him to do if it made her feel even a little bit better.

"Give me your hand," she instructed. Toby wordlessly did as he was told and held out his hand, watching as Jessica guided it to the area of her head that was the most painful. She looked at him, giving him a pleading look, and he understood what she wanted from him immediately.

He gently began to rub the affected area with his hand, applying minimal pressure with his fingertips so he didn't unintentionally worsen her pain. He worked diligently, watching her close her eyes as she relaxed, the action clearly relieving her of a lot of tension.

"Is it really helping?" he murmured a few minutes later, watching her open her eyes.

"A little..." she said. In other words, it probably hadn't helped at all.

"And I'm guessing you still won't take some painkillers, right?" he asked. Upon seeing her shake her head, he muttered, "Right, should have known..." Why did she have to be so stubborn?

She shifted slightly and positioned herself so she fit perfectly in his arms. "Just hold me like this a while," she told him. "You make me forget all of my pain."

"Are you sure that's a good thing?" he asked, a little worried. If she was simply forgetting her pain rather than dealing with it, maybe that was what had caused the headache. Maybe it was the build-up of all the stress she'd experienced over the years. Maybe... "This is all my fault..." he whispered suddenly, beginning a staring battle with the floor.

Jessica looked at him, unsure if her headache was beginning to affect her hearing or not. He couldn't seriously think that he was responsible for her headache, could he? But, as she saw the expression of guilt etched onto his face, she realized that was exactly what he thought. "Toby, this isn't your fault..." she said in what she hoped was her best reassuring voice. "I only meant that you always make me feel happy even when I'm in a dark place."

His arms tightened around her. "Really?" he asked quietly and she nodded. "I just thought that I was making you bottle things up and it was making you all stressed out and..." he rambled.

"You don't make me bottle things up!" she laughed. "If anything, you get me to open up and, let me tell you now, so far you're the only person who's succeeded. Without you, I'd keep all my suffering inside. There's nobody else in the world I'd willingly trust to share my feelings and experiences with. Nobody."

He stared at her, blinking rapidly. He had no idea she trusted him that much. She'd told him in the past that he was the only person she had ever fully trusted but he never really had any idea of just how much until now. "That means a lot, Jess..." he said gently, meaning every word.

She tugged him closer and kissed him. "I love you, Toby, and I trust you. More than anybody else."

"I love you too," he responded before thinking for a moment. "Does that mean you'll trust me when I say you should take some painkillers?"

"You're right..." she sighed wearily. "As much as I hate to admit it, it hurts a lot. I doubt it's going away any time soon."

Toby stood up, slowly pulling Jessica to her feet and walked over to the bed, sitting her down. "I'll be back soon," he told her, kissing her forehead, before leaving the room.

Just a few minutes later, he returned, holding a cup of water and two small pills in one hand. He also had something in his other hand but he kept it hidden behind his back so Jessica couldn't see it.

"Better get it over with," she said, as he handed her the pills which she took one at a time, using the provided water to wash them down. Having noticed that he kept something hidden from her piqued her curiosity. "What have you got there?"

"You don't miss anything, do you, Little Miss Observant?" he teased, before showing her the object he had hidden.

"A hot water bottle?" she asked. "Why would I need that?"

He shrugged. "Mom said it helped whenever Nick or I were ill or under the weather so I thought it might help you. It's not a stupid idea, is it?"

"No," she said, smiling at him, appreciative of the tiny but loving gesture. "It'll be a huge help. Thank you."

"Okay, well, you should get some rest now, I guess," Toby said as he wrapped her up. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Wait!" she called out to him. "Could you...sing to me?"

Toby sighed. He would never understand why Jessica insisted on wanting to hear him sing all the time. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Jess. My singing's so awful that you'd end up with earache on top of the headache you've already got."

Jessica gave him the puppy dog eyes, pouting slightly. "Please," she begged. "For me? And don't bother giving me the whole _I can't sing_ excuse again because we both know you can!"

"Alright," he sighed. He began to sing a gentle soothing melody as she laid her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake her.

He finished the song and noticed her breathing lightly. She had definitely fallen asleep and he couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked.

Figuring it wouldn't hurt to have a rest himself, he climbed into the bed beside her, his arms embracing her and closed his eyes. He must have been more tired than he thought because, seconds later, he was sound asleep...

* * *

"You know something?" Jessica said, a few hours after waking up. "We should re-enact floor talk more often!" Toby laughed, not about to argue against it.

"We most certainly should. Thank you for the inspiration, Miss McAllister!"


	19. January 19 - Burst

_AN: Again, another weird non-dialogue one. Hope you enjoy it, though._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _608_

* * *

It was a rather strange experience, falling in love. At least that's what Toby and Jessica would say if they were asked. It was one of those things that was difficult to describe fully. After all, it happened so differently with everybody. Real life didn't equate to what fairytales depicted.

Both of them agreed it hadn't happened instantly. They hadn't woken up one morning and suddenly decided they were madly in love. No, it had taken time. Years, in fact, before they finally realized the true extent of their feelings.

They hadn't fallen at the same time. Jessica had fallen first, though she kept it secret for well over a year. Toby spent a while trying to convince himself that she was just his friend before finally facing up to the fact that he had obviously fallen for her.

The little bursts of love in their hearts that they felt for each other became harder to ignore as the days went by. It seemed that the more time they spent together, the deeper they fell in love. They could no longer call each other just friends. It didn't feel like it was enough.

It was no secret that they held an unwavering trust for one another. No matter the situation, they always had each other's backs. They were each other's support systems, their confidants. Their bond was stronger than ever and they felt that they could take on anything together along with Nick and Lucas. If there were any hurdles in their path, they would clear them as a duo, a partnership.

Any time either of them achieved something, even if it was the most insignificant thing, the other would feel their heart bursting with pride. They would always congratulate each other on their achievements.

When they became a couple, these feelings did not diminish in the slightest. They still felt the bursts of love in their hearts every time they touched or even looked at one another.

But that was all kept hidden. They felt it was best overall to keep their relationship secret. It wasn't easy, keeping such an irrevocable love on the inside. They meant so much to each other and they were determined that no circumstance would ever tear them apart.

So they had to put on the performance of their lives, pretending in front of everybody they knew that their relationship was strictly platonic. It worked better than they expected. Not one person suspected the truth.

Of course that would lead to a couple of awkward situations where one of them would have someone show an unwanted interest in them. More often than not, they would give up when they were told that their feelings were not reciprocated. There were plenty more fish in the sea, as the old saying went.

Three more years would go by before they finally revealed the true nature of their relationship to those closest to them. They knew their friends would act as though they'd known all along but they hadn't.

The bursts of love and pride in their hearts would only intensify when Tori came into the world. She was everything to them, their pride and joy. Every moment with her filled them with undeniable happiness. Their daughter was a part of both of them and they wanted to make sure she grew up safe and happy.

As she grew older, every little thing she did - taking her first steps, saying her first word - would reignite the bursts of pride. And it would soon happen all over again with Erin, their niece and adopted daughter.


	20. January 20 - Influence

_AN: Short but sweet. Hopefully it's okay, if a little weird. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _348_

* * *

"You know," Jessica said as she sat down on the lounge chair opposite her boyfriend. "Some people might think you're a bad influence on me if they knew about us."

Toby laughed lightly. "Really?" He grabbed hold of her hand and said, "How do they know that you're not the one who's influencing me?"

They both smiled at the thought of people unable to mind their own businesses and trying to tell either of them that they were wrong for each other.

"Besides how does cheering you up when you're down make me a bad influence again?" Toby continued and Jessica laughed.

"It doesn't," she told him. "They don't see the real you or the real me, do they? We've been showing everybody what we want them to see - the endlessly optimistic, happy-go-lucky and positive people. So they don't know that we actually influence each other in a good way."

"By being there when either of us needs help," Toby added, understanding what she was trying to say. "We've been performing the same act. That's why we understand each other so well."

"I know who would be a bad influence on you, though," Jessica said thoughtfully after a few moments.

Toby frantically shook his head, giving her a terrified look as he begged, "Please, no. Don't say it!"

The girl giggled at his terror and gently squeezed his hand. "Don't worry. Just the thought of her being in a position of being able to influence you in any way makes my skin crawl."

"That makes two of us..." Toby muttered before speaking aloud, "You wouldn't ever start acting like you had to rely on me for everything, would you? I fell in love with you because of your independence and inner strength. I'd hate to see you lose it."

Jessica leaned forward and kissed him. "The day I stop being independent is the day the Lava Gormiti start promoting peace!" she told him. The mere thought of this made them both laugh.


	21. January 21 - String

_AN: I decided to rewrite today's one shot with a different word so I could make it shippy. Hopefully this one is better. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _264_

* * *

She felt her back being pushed up against the wall as he kissed her hungrily. Not one to be submissive, she fought back, her hands gripping his shoulders.

It wasn't the first time this had happened. They would get into a blazing argument over something trivial and then one of them would close the gap between them.

They weren't in a relationship by any means. Right at the start of whatever it was that was happening, they had agreed that there would be no strings attached. That had been six months ago.

But, as time went on, Jessica found herself wishing that there were strings attached. She couldn't deny her attraction to the boy currently kissing her. After all, she would never have let him kiss her if she wasn't at least the tiniest bit attracted to him.

The worst part? She thinks she might just love him. But when this particular makeout session is over, they'll just go back to being friends until the next inevitable disagreement.

"I can't keep doing this, Toby!" she exclaimed, pulling away from him. "I can't keep getting hurt over and over again!"

To her annoyance, she can feel tears welling up in her eyes. She frowned, determined not to let them fall. She wasn't going to let him see her cry.

She felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her close. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Learn to love me... always..." she whispered sadly.

"I already do," he admitted quietly, kissing her gently.


	22. January 22 - Cast

_AN: Well, this one is just weird! I've never broken my arm before but I have broken my right pinky finger (I got it trapped in a fire exit door at school). Just a thought but would any of you like me to post this series on Wattpad? Let me know. In the meantime, enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1562_

* * *

Toby looked around grumpily at his bedroom walls. His right arm was in a large white cast which he had to wear for six whole weeks.

How was he supposed to know that riding his bike down a steep hill without using the brakes would result in him flying off and hitting his right arm against a rock?

His parents had grounded him for a month because, at nine years old, he really should have known better than to attempt such a ridiculous and dangerous stunt.

Nick had laughed himself silly when he had arrived home, his arm bent in an awkward position. Not because of his broken arm but the fact that he couldn't believe how it had happened.

Of course, his parents had taken him straight to the hospital where he'd had his arm x-rayed - a bit pointless, in his opinion, as it was quite visibly broken - before having a cast put on it.

This had allowed him a couple of days off school which normally would have made him very happy but he was in such a bad mood even that couldn't make him feel better.

When he did return to school, his bad mood worsened when he found out that Nick - who he should have realized wouldn't have been able to keep his mouth shut - had told just about everybody exactly what had happened. Now he didn't even have the option of pretending the accident had been incredibly dramatic.

People laughed as he walked down the corridors. It was like the sequel to the sacred spider dance fiasco. And it did nothing to improve his mood, especially when he learned that he would have to miss several weeks of PE lessons, which were some of the only lessons - aside from Art and Music - that he actually enjoyed.

The only good thing about his injury was that he got to leave each class a little earlier than the others did. He had to use a computer in most of his lessons because he couldn't write with his left hand. Well, he could, but nobody would be able to read it, not even him.

At lunch, he sat down at a table and glared down at the tray in front of him, trying to figure out if he was actually hungry or not. He just wanted to go home but he knew he would be grounded for a year if he did.

"Are you going to eat that?" He looked up to see Jessica standing behind him with her own tray. Before he could answer, she walked around and sat down in the unoccupied seat opposite him.

"Help yourself," he muttered, deciding that he definitely did not have an appetite for school food at that moment. He pushed his tray towards her and watched her features morph into a concerned frown.

"Are you okay?" she asked, the worry in her voice evident. If she had asked him earlier, he might have been alright with it but his temper was practically at breaking point and hearing that question finally made him snap.

"No!" he all but shouted. "No, I'm not alright! I have to wear this thing for six weeks and listen to everybody laughing at how stupid I am. I've been grounded for a month and nobody cares about how all this makes me feel!"

His anger abated as quickly as it had come, only to leave him with a feeling of emptiness. He looked across the table, feeling bad that he'd just taken his frustration out on his best friend. Anyone else would likely have been in tears after being yelled at like that but Jessica was made of tougher stuff than most people. The look of hurt in her eyes, however, was unmistakable and it made him feel even worse.

"I stood up for you," she said quietly. "When Nick told us all what happened and people started laughing, I told them to stop. Maybe next time I won't bother!" She practically screamed the last part and he's surprised that nobody has noticed them. Then again, the cafeteria was always noisy at dinnertime and the hubbub was bound to drown them out.

He watched her stand up, leaving her tray of half-eaten food on the table as she started to storm away. Without thinking about it, he reached out with his good arm and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Jess, wait..." he said feebly, trailing off as he didn't know what to say. He owed her an apology, that much he knew, but a simple sorry didn't feel like it would be enough.

"What?" she said impatiently, tapping her foot against the ground. She could easily have gotten herself out of his grip and left but he was her best friend and he hadn't been acting like himself.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, thoroughly ashamed of himself for the way he had acted. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I've been having a really bad day but that didn't give me the right to take it out on you when you were just trying to see if I was alright."

She frowned at him for a moment before giving him a small smile, much to his relief. "I guess I should have thought it through before I asked you if you were okay," she said. "It was pretty obvious that you weren't. I just wanted you to know that I was worried about you."

"You were?" he asked, sounding more surprised than he had intended. Why did it surprise him that she had been worried about him?

"Of course I was! You're my best friend! And I couldn't help thinking it was a lot worse than Nick made it sound," she told him.

He smiled at her and shrugged. "Well, aside from the arm, being sore all over and my ego being bruised, I think I'm fine." He thought he may as well ask, "So am I forgiven, then?"

She thought for a few moments before saying, "I suppose so... if you give me your chocolate pudding on Friday."

"Deal!" he said quickly. "You and your chocolate..." he muttered fondly under his breath.

"I heard that!" she said. "Chocolate solves everything and it tastes good too!"

"What if you can't eat it?" he challenged, feeling a lot better than he had an hour earlier. This is what he would have missed if Jessica hadn't forgiven him - she had a talent for being able to make him feel better, even if she wasn't aware of it. He laughed at her failed attempts to come up with a response before she let out a huff and sat back down in her recently vacated seat.

"Six weeks isn't all that long, you know," she said, trying to cheer him up. "It'll be over before you know it."

"It's not the cast that bothers me," Toby admitted. "It's the way everyone keeps laughing at me. It just brings back memories of that school play and how everywhere I went, people would be telling me about the sacred spider dance! I - Jess, stop laughing!"

Jessica wiped her eyes as she continued giggling. "I'm sorry, Toby!" she gasped breathlessly. "But the sacred spider dance _was_ pretty funny! It probably wasn't for you but from our viewpoint, it was funny seeing you flap around the stage like a headless chicken!"

The warning bell rang, signalling that there were only ten minutes before the lunch period ended and they would have to get to class. Jessica opened her drink and took a couple of mouthfuls, having opted to not eat the rest of her food.

Once they were both finished, they stood up and walked to the classroom together. Of course, Toby had to endure people laughing and calling out to him, causing him to stiffen up. Jessica noticed this and grabbed hold of his good hand, surprising him once again, though he made no attempt to pull away. "Ignore them," she advised. "Something more interesting will happen soon and they'll forget all about what happened to you.

Nick and Lucas walked up to them. "Hey, bro," Nick said a little awkwardly. "I'm sorry about today. I didn't mean to tell the whole school what happened. It's just-"

"It's alright," Toby said, waving him off. "We all know you're terrible at keeping secrets!"

Nick blinked at him. "You're not mad?" he asked incredulously. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"No, I'm not mad," Toby responded and he was being totally honest now. His bad mood had all but evaporated as he realized it was no use to sit around and feel sorry for himself. "I won't be wearing this thing forever!"

His friends grinned at him, secretly relieved that he was no longer being moody. None of them liked dealing him when he was anything other than his usua self. He was difficult enough to deal with at the best of times so his acceptance of what had happened would make waiting for the cast to be removed a lot easier.

For all of them.


	23. January 23 - Bell

_AN: Guys, I'm so sorry this was uploaded late. I've had to go to the chemist every day this week and I just feel so tired. I finished the chapter last night but fell asleep before I could upload it. Well, enjoy, I guess._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _680_

* * *

Ordinarily Toby looked forward to the bell that rang at four o'clock each day, signalling that classes were over. Today, however, was a rare exception.

It was just his luck that he had managed to land himself in detention...again. Only, for once, it wasn't actually his fault.

Madison and Jessica had been arguing about something and, worried that the fight would turn physical, he had tried to intervene. He didn't want Jessica to get into trouble for fighting, even if it was with Madison.

Unfortunately his efforts had not been very successful and a passing teacher had issued all three of them a detention, despite his protests that he hadn't done anything wrong.

So when the bell rung that day, he headed to the classroom that had been assigned for any detentions issued. Jessica and Madison were already there, glaring at each other. If looks could kill, they would both be six feet under. Toby sighed, knowing that this was going to be a very long thirty minutes.

"Toby!" Madison squealed suddenly, as she turned around and spotted him standing awkwardly in the doorway. He sidestepped as she rushed towards him, attempting to hug him. "I'm _so_ sorry you ended up getting in trouble!" She turned and glared at Jessica who glared back. "It's all _her_ fault!"

Jessica looked as though she wanted to protest but then the teacher who had given them the detention came into the classroom and told them to sit down. Luckily for him, the teacher made sure that Madison was nowhere near either him or Jessica. It was no secret that the girl was overly obsessed with him and hated Jessica for some reason, which he had never understood.

The teacher gave them some work to do and told them to complete it in silence. Once thirty minutes had gone by, they would be free to go.

Toby sighed and started filling out the sheet. He was used to getting detentions and they were always boring - a definite punishment. He was still annoyed about this particular detention which he felt he didn't deserve but he knew complaining about it would only end up with him receiving yet more detentions.

* * *

In his opinion, the thirty minutes they had been there felt more like several hours. The teacher looked up at the clock and announced that they could leave.

Once they were out of the classroom, he grabbed hold of Jessica and practically sprinted out of the school, ignoring Madison calling out after him.

"Toby!" Jessica protested. "Could you slow down a minute?" The boy stopped and laughed nervously as he let go of her hand.

"Uh, sorry about that, Jess!" he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I just wanted to escape as fast as possible!"

"Well, in that case, you're forgiven," Jessica said firmly. "You don't deserve the torture of having to listen to her plan your future wedding!" She looked at the boy and saw the color drain from his face as his body started to sway.

"Our w-what?" he stuttered, feeling rather faint. Jessica, worried that he might actually pass out, grabbed hold of him which seemed to snap him out of it. "What were you fighting about anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Something and nothing," she said airily. Upon seeing his disbelieving look, she sighed, "Alright, she kept going on about how awful I was for getting in the way of your eternal love and how you'd be better off without me..."

"What?" he yelped, trying to make sure he'd heard right. They'd been fighting...about him? That couldn't be right.

"In the end, I just snapped and went for her," Jessica continued. "You're my best friend and I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," he assured her. "You're not awful and you're definitely not getting in the way of my supposed eternal love either!" He rolled his eyes, somehow able to believe Madison would go that far.


	24. January 24 - Begin

_AN: Wow, I really suck at getting these up on time. Blame the headache I had for the whole day. Anyway this is the continuation of the Turn oneshot so enjoy!_

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):**_ _1124_

Jessica was surprised to find that the boy walking beside her looked incredibly nervous. He kept shooting her disbelieving looks and even occasionally pinching himself as though trying to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming.

It was rather disconcerting, to say the least. She was used to him being loud and confident, not withdrawn and unsure. She still wasn't quite sure why she had asked him to get a drink with her after their last tutoring session ended or why she had insisted that it was a date.

"Toby," she said after a while. "What's wrong?" Had she offended him in some way? His behavior was confusing her greatly.

"N-Nothing," was his reply, though it came a little too quickly for her liking. She decided not to push the subject, after all - they had only recently become friends and she didn't want to risk breaking the fragile bond they had formed.

They arrived at _Mabel's_ , a popular cafeteria that Jessica would often visit with Nick and Lucas. Gina would occasionally accompany them too. Though Toby was invited as well, he always came up with excuses to avoid going. Jessica felt guilt in the pit of her stomach as she realized that it was probably because of her that he didn't want to hang around with them.

She hadn't been the kindest to him since the day they first met. Her mind had tried to rationalize it as revenge for him constantly teasing her but there had been times when he had been minding his own business and she had lashed out at him, not knowing or understanding why.

Toby followed the blonde into the cafeteria. He had visited the establishment several times in the past and the owner, Mabel, was quite fond of him. He personally thought of her as a grandmother or perhaps a great-aunt and he knew her fondness was also of a familial kind.

"Ah, Jessica and Toby, too?" Granny Mabel, as she was known by the entire town, said as they approached the counter. "I never thought I'd see the day when the two of you were together and not arguing! Well, what would you like, dearies?"

Toby thought for a moment before saying, "How about you surprise us?" He then turned and guided an open-mouthed Jessica to the nearest table and sat her down on one of the chairs.

As soon as he sat down, she recovered and asked, "How do you know Mabel?"

Resisting the urge to point out that everybody knew Mabel, he said, "I've been here a fair few times and we ended up getting pretty close."

Jessica had an unreadable expression on her face as she said bitterly, "Oh, right, I'm not the first date you've had here then."

He blinked in confusion as he tried to make sense of what she'd just said. "What do you mean?" he asked after a while. "I've never been on a date!" She looked disbelieving so he added, "It's true - I was waiting for the right person. I thought she'd hate me forever... until recently..."

How could she have been so stupid? He didn't have feelings for her. Why did she even think he would? And, more importantly, why did her heart feel like it had just broken?

She knew the answer to the last question. Despite her best efforts, he had somehow managed to force his way into her heart. She had fallen completely and irrevocably in love with him. She had thought that, perhaps after today, they could begin a relationship.

But he didn't love her.

If she had wanted to run the risk of looking like a coward, she would have fled and left him alone at that table. She instead forced a smile as Mabel brought a tray over which was filled with a variety of different foods, many of which she had shown a preference for during her previous visits. They both thanked her and Toby paid the bill. Normally she would have argued but she wasn't in the mood as she reached for a chocolate eclair

After they finished eating, he stood up and led the way outside. Though his hand holding hers felt comforting, she remembered that it wasn't her he truly wanted, so she snatched her hand away, spotting a flicker of hurt in his eyes.

"I hope you end up happy with her...whoever she is," she told him sadly as she started to walk away.

To her surprise, she heard footsteps behind her. A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders, whirling her around and suddenly his mouth was on hers, kissing her fiercely. She felt almost dizzy with elation but it didn't last. Anger filled her as she forced herself out of his grip.

Toby rubbed his cheek which was stinging slightly from where she'd slapped him. Apparently she didn't appreciate him trying to be more direct about his feelings toward her.

"How could you?" she screamed, sounding close to tears. "Kissing me after telling me you have feelings for someone else? What about my feelings? Oh, wait, I probably don't matter! It certainly doesn't matter to you that I'm in love with you!"

His head was spinning with this confession which, judging from the horrified expression on her face, had been unintentional. Her words were ringing in his head.

She loved him. And she thought he loved someone else. Man, she really was oblivious.

"Jess," he spoke, getting her attention. She looked up. "Do you really love me?"

The girl nodded, starting to protest, but he placed a finger against her lips to quiet her. He had been tempted to kiss her again but didn't want to risk being slapped a second time.

Instead he said quietly, "That girl I was talking about...it's you." Now all he had to do was wait...

Jessica blinked, her mouth moving but she found herself unable to speak, too shocked by his revelation.

She could have done many things at that moment but the only thing that felt right was to kiss him again. So she did just that.

"I can't believe you thought I was talking about someone else," he said fondly, stroking her hair, after she'd finished explaining why she had reacted in the way she had.

"Shut up," she mumbled. "How was I to know that you're in love with me?"

"It wasn't obvious?" he asked, sounding shocked. She shook her head and he grinned, "Well, I'll tell you again - I love you, Jess."

Maybe they could begin a relationship after all.


	25. January 25 - Club

_AN: Wow, this is majorly late! I am so sorry about this guys! I cannot apologize enough but I hope that you enjoy this one!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1800_

* * *

The music was pumping loudly. People were laughing and chatting with each other as they danced on the floor.

Jessica weaved her way through the crowd of people, holding a wrapped present in one hand and a cup of cherryade in the other, as she tried to locate Gina.

Her friend had decided to hold her sixteenth birthday party at the recently opened club that catered to teenagers.

After looking around for ten minutes, she finally spotted her dark-haired friend walking over to the buffet table and followed her before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Jess!" the girl exclaimed happily as she turned around and hugged her. "You made it after all!"

"Of course!" Jessica smiled. "How could I miss my best friend's sixteenth?" She then handed her present over to Gina who eagerly opened it.

"Oh my gosh, you didn't!" Gina gasped as she pulled out a pretty red top with matching ballerina pumps. "This is the top and shoes I was looking at when we went shopping the other week!" She pulled Jessica into another hug which the blonde returned. "Thank you!"

"It's no trouble at all!" Jessica responded. "Were you looking for someone by the way?" She had a feeling she knew the answer already.

Gina nodded. "I was trying to find Lucas. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Not yet. I was too busy trying to find you. Why don't we go and get something to eat?"

The two girls walked over to the nearby buffet table and selected some snacks. Just as they were about to enjoy their food, a voice called out, "There you are!"

* * *

Toby walked into the club with Nick and Lucas. He spotted several of their classmates enjoying themselves but there was only one person he was looking for.

"Maybe we should find Gina and thank her for inviting us!" Nick shouted over the music. The boys nodded at each other and begin to make their way through the crowd, apologizing when they accidentally bumped into someone.

They reached the buffet table and found not only the birthday girl but also her best friend - also known as the girl of Toby's dreams. He almost stopped breathing at the sight of her.

Jessica was wearing a pale pink top with blue leggings and white ballerina pumps. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back rather than being in its usual ponytail. It was a simple look and yet, to Toby, she was the most beautiful person in the room.

"There you are!" Lucas exclaimed, snapping him out of his stupor. He followed his brother and friend over to the two girls, hoping he hadn't been caught staring.

"Lucas!" Gina beamed at him. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" She then turned to Toby and Nick who wished her a happy birthday.

"I think I'm gonna go and show off some of my moves on the floor!" Nick said, handing his drink over to Toby before walking away and beginning to dance.

"Why don't we join him?" Gina suggested, holding her hand out for Lucas to take. The boy looked momentarily surprised but smiled and led her on the floor where they joined Nick.

* * *

Jessica glanced at Toby who seemed to be contemplating something. "Do you think we should join them?" she asked after finishing off her drink.

"If you want to," he answered, grinning at her. He was privately surprised that he could even speak normally, considering what he'd been thinking just moments earlier.

She grabbed his hand, ignoring the tingling, and pulled him close. "But then again, we're alone now..."

He answered her grin with one of his own as she tugged him behind the nearby wall, hiding them from the view of their classmates. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "I thought I'd have to wait until the party was over!"

"A bit eager, aren't you?" he teased.

"Like you aren't!" she retorted before gasping as he did exactly what she wanted by kissing her. Neither of them were strangers to finding hiding places where they could be alone.

It was a strange experience being hidden in a club at their friend's birthday party and currently making out, risking the discovery of their secret relationship.

A few times, they thought they heard somebody approaching and swiftly broke apart, only to resume when they were sure they were alone once more.

"You think the others are looking for us yet?" Jessica asked, pulling away for air. "We should probably go and find them."

"Yeah, you're right," Toby agreed, though he wished they could have stayed there a little longer.

The couple fixed their hair and clothes, which had become rather mussed from their activities, before leaving their hiding place and rejoining the party.

Luckily nobody had noticed their extended absence as they walked over to their friends. Gina walked up onto the stage and announced that they would be beginning a karaoke special and anyone was welcome to take part.

"No," Toby said immediately as Jessica gave him a pleading look. "No way, Jess. I am _not_ going to sing. You know what'll happen if I sing - I'll get embarrassed and you don't want that to happen!"

Jessica wasn't going to take no for an answer. She knew he would give in, eventually, so she just had to be patient. Sure enough, after five minutes, he relented and allowed her to pull him on stage.

It came as no surprise to absolutely nobody in the room that the two blondes absolutely annihilated anyone else brave enough to attempt a go at karaoke.

They started off doing duets together but, just for a laugh, decided to go head to head. Every song they chose, their scores would be exactly the same at the end, much to their - and everyone else's - amusement.

Gina would tell them later that they had made the party more memorable for her before she held up her phone and the five friends took a group selfie.

* * *

Toby and Jessica watched their two daughters - fifteen year old Tori and thirteen year old Erin - as they prepared for a night at the same club they themselves had attended approximately twenty years earlier.

"Can someone please tell me why Louise had to choose a club to have her birthday party at?" Tori complained. "There'll be too many people there!"

"Come on, Tori, live a little!" Erin exclaimed. "You're not getting out of this one! Louise made me promise I'd make sure you were there!"

"Great!" Tori replied, her sarcasm not going unmissed. She would much rather have attended a nice quiet birthday meal than have to spend the evening with a huge crowd of people, many of whom she didn't even know.

Jessica let out a sigh as she rested her head on Toby's shoulder. "Remember Gina's sixteenth?"

Toby nodded. "As I recall, we spent most of it making out in a corner somewhere, didn't we?" he reminisced.

"See?" Erin, who had been listening in, said to Tori, who had been trying to come up with an excuse to stay at home. "You can just stay in a corner and make out with-"

"For the last time, Erin, I do _not_ have a crush on Ryan!" Tori burst out angrily.

Erin grinned mischievously while Tori's face flushed red, having realized her mistake. "Who said I was talking about Ryan?"

They watched their eldest daughter scream frustratedly before she stormed up the stairs, Erin yelling after her to hurry up as they had to leave.

After the two girls had left, Toby wrapped his arms around Jessica. "She definitely likes him," his wife commented. "Every time someone mentions his name, she always overreacts."

"I'm not sure she even realizes how obvious she is," Toby agreed, though he was torn on how he felt about the situation as a whole. On the one hand, Tori was almost sixteen - it was only natural that she would start to develop romantic interests, even if she was Lucas-level oblivious. On the other, she was his baby girl and he didn't want to think of her dating anyone yet.

"Feel like a hypocrite?" Jessica asked suddenly, causing the man to jump, wondering how she could have possibly known that was precisely how he felt.

"Well, you know, I don't want her to date yet but, at the same time, we started dating when we were thirteen. So I'm not really in any position to tell her she can't date anyone, am I?" he sighed, wishing he could rewind the clock a few years so things were less complicated.

"I know how you feel," Jessica told him. "But I don't think you need to worry." Upon seeing his puzzled look, she elaborated, "Tori doesn't know yet how she really feels about Ryan. She's hardly going to make a move on him while she's struggling to work out what he actually is to her. And Ryan...he's clearly liked her for a while - the poor guy couldn't _be_ any more obvious! But he won't tell her until he's absolutely sure of her feelings."

Toby gaped at her. "Our relationship was _never_ that complicated!" he managed to get out after a while. "We just confessed and then lived happily with a few bumps in the road every now and again!"

"Times change, though," Jessica reminded him. "Tori and Ryan aren't like you or I when you think about it."

She had a point there. Tori and Ryan hadn't been able to stand each other when they'd first met and it took everything they both had just to be civil to one another. It had taken as long as a year for Tori to willingly admit that she cared about him as a friend, something she never would have done at the beginning.

Their two daughters were as different as night and day, too. Erin was outgoing, explosive and extroverted whereas Tori was gentle, a little antisocial and very introverted. Ironically, despite being two years younger, it was Erin who took the role of ' _protective sibling'._

"Do you think they'll be alright? The girls, I mean."

Jessica smiled. "I'm sure they will be. They're growing up - it's a scary prospect but it's happening. We just have to be there whenever they need us."

"Like you were for me," Toby said, kissing her gently. "You always had my back - well, let's face it, you still do!"

"You have my back, too," she pointed out. "The girls will look out for each other."


	26. January 26 - Meeting

_AN: Wow, I am so te_ _rrible at uploading things. Blame my very busy life and my exhaustion from dealing with a cold and having to visit the chemist practically every day this week and last. But I hope you enjoy this one!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _523_

* * *

Toby remembers his first meeting with Jessica's parents vividly. They had been memorable in entirely different meanings of the word.

He had first encountered Monica Herleins at the age of five on his first day of school when she plowed into him and Nick, not even stopping to make sure that they were okay. He disliked her from that moment, even though his mother had always taught him never to judge somebody by first impressions.

However, after being friends with Jessica for a while, he thought that his first impressions had been spot-on. Jessica's mom couldn't care less about her daughter and he had a sneaking suspicion that she hadn't wanted her in the first place which baffled him.

Meeting Aaron Herleins had been altogether a more pleasant experience. The man, from what little Toby knew about him, had suffered a lot in his younger days and was continuing to struggle years later. Toby privately thought that being married to a woman who clearly didn't love him wasn't helping. However, unlike his wife - who had made it very clear that she disliked him just for being friends with Jessica - he seemed to find a common ground with the boy his daughter seemed so fond of.

Aside from them both caring greatly for Jessica - albeit in different ways -, both of them also had a passion and a talent for art. Every time they met, Toby always made sure to show Mr Herleins his latest project and watched the man's face light up, making him look years younger.

Jessica had told him that her dad really liked him whereas her mom didn't. He didn't mind, really, telling her that he only cared about whether she, herself, liked him or not.

"You know, I think Dad's rooting for us," she said to him one day, casually.

Toby was nonplussed. "What do you mean?" he asked, staring at her.

"I mean he thinks we'd make a good couple," she replied before giggling. "Isn't that funny?" She continued to laugh before stopping abruptly when she noticed that he wasn't laughing with her.

"You think the idea of us being a couple is funny?" She was surprised by the amount of hurt in his voice, having not expected him to take her so seriously.

"N-no! Not at all!" she protested. "That wasn't what I was laughing at! I just found it funny that he worked it out!"

"Worked what ou- oh..." he looked at her, comprehension dawning before grinning widely and asking, "Seriously?"

"And, judging from your earlier reaction, I'd say the feelings are mutual, wouldn't you?" she guessed before squeaking as he hugged her tightly.

"Definitely," he told her, holding her close while tilting her head up towards his so he could kiss her.

Neither of them would ever have expected this moment to happen. When they first met, they had been drawn to one another and had become friends fairly quickly. That was as far as they thought their relationship would ever go.

But sometimes Destiny has other plans.


	27. January 27 - Draw

_AN: Well, this one is an AU that is kind of loosely based on the Hunger Games but only one name is chosen and there's no fight to the death. It was quite interesting to write so I hope you enjoy it!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1498_

* * *

Jessica walked downstairs and greeted her parents who had prepared a hearty breakfast for her. With a heavy heart, she sat down and filled her plate with food.

She knew precisely why her parents had gone overboard with the food. Today was The Draw...

Sixteen years ago, the King and Queen of the town had become proud parents to a boy. They had decided that, on his sixteenth birthday, the names of every girl in the village aged sixteen to twenty would be placed into a bowl. The girl selected would become the prince's bride.

At sixteen, Jessica was eligible to be part of The Draw, something she wasn't happy about. Why should she, or any other girl, be forced to marry the prince? Surely he could decide for himself.

She finished eating and looked at her parents, suddenly aware that this could be the last time she saw them. Tears pricked in her eyes as she stood up and hugged them abruptly.

"You'd better start getting ready," her mom said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I put your outfit at the bottom of your bed."

Jessica silently thanked her mother and walked upstairs. Just as her mother had said, her outfit was neatly folded at the foot of her bed - a lilac dress with matching shoes and hair ribbon.

After getting dressed, she walked downstairs, finishing tying her hair with the hair ribbon. Her mother noticed her struggling and walked over, took the hair ribbon and styled Jessica's hair in a way she had never been able to do herself.

"You look beautiful, love," she said sincerely. Her father, who wasn't talkative at the best of times, nodded his agreement.

Jessica choked up and ran to hug him. Her father protected her from everything but even he was powerless if her name was selected by The Draw.

There was a knock on the door. Jessica rushed to answer it, hoping that it would be someone she knew. To her delight, it was her best friend, Gina, who was also dressed in her best clothes. Her dark hair had been curled and hung down to her shoulders in soft curls.

"Are you ready?" she asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. They had to be at the town square for two o'clock precisely and they had fifteen minutes to get there. Though it would only take five minutes because of how close she lived to the square, Jessica had a strong suspicion that Gina wanted to get there a little early to catch a glimpse of the prince.

"No," she replied honestly. "But is anyone?" They said goodbye to Jessica's parents and left the house, neither of them knowing if they would ever return...

* * *

Toby let out a long-suffering sigh. The day he had been dreading his entire life had finally arrived. Though he should have been pleased that it was his sixteenth birthday, he was anything but.

"You're not actually thinking of leaving, are you?" The voice of his one year younger brother, Nick, interrupts his train of thought. He feels a wave of jealousy wash over him but does his best to push it down. None of this is Nick's fault, after all.

As the first-born son and heir to the throne, all his parents cared about was finding him a suitable bride. For some reason, this had led them to reintroduce an old tradition that Toby thought should have been left in the past.

It was this opinion that had caused the prince to decide to run away. He didn't want to be forced into marrying someone he didn't know. But, deep down, he knew he'd never be able to bring himself to do it.

Nick was lucky, he decided. He got to choose who he would marry and when. Why couldn't he have that luxury?

His servant knocked on his door and told him to be downstairs soon as the carriage had arrived. "Well, this is it, I guess," he sighed. He looked around at the room that he had inhabited for the past sixteen years, knowing that his parents had had the servants prepare a new room for him and his bride-to-be.

He walked down the stairs, plastering a fake smile on his face, as his mother hugged him, telling him that any girl would be lucky to have him for a husband.

Breakfast was unusually silent. Though the cooks had prepared all of his favourite foods, he wasn't in the mood to eat or even talk.

"The carriage is here, your Majesties," a servant said as they entered the room, bowing respectfully to the royal family. The Queen thanked him and he left, bowing once more.

The family headed outside and boarded the carriage which began to move in the direction of the town square. Toby looked down at his feet, knowing that today would be his last day of true freedom...

* * *

Jessica stood next to Gina in the middle of the crowd of eligible girls. At some point, her friend had grabbed her hand, whether it was seeking comfort or offering support, she wasn't sure but she welcomed the gesture nevertheless.

There was a strange kind of tension in the air. Everyone knew that only one girl would be chosen but they would still compare themselves to see who would be the _best_ , a pastime Jessica always avoided.

"He's here!"

"The Prince? Oh, my hair! It looks awful!"

Jessica rolled her eyes. Looks were not at all important when it came to The Draw. It was all about luck. But clearly most of these girls were too shallow to know that.

Despite not being at all interested, Jessica found herself craning her neck to catch a glimpse at the prince. It was difficult but she managed to get a good look at him.

He had golden-blonde hair and blue eyes, from what she could see. And, though he was smiling charmingly, the look in his eyes betrayed him. He clearly did not want to be there. She wondered if he agreed with The Draw. Would he keep it a tradition when he became King?

He stood beside his younger brother who seemed to be offering his support. In some sort of strange way, it reminded Jessica of herself and Gina. The two girls had known each other their entire lives and considered themselves sisters in everything but blood. It was useful, considering that the other girls treated them as outcasts and refused to associate with them. Not that they really cared.

On the other side of him was a stern looking guard. Jessica found it slightly amusing that the prince needed a babysitter. Perhaps the guard was there to stop him from running away. She honestly wouldn't blame him for wanting to.

Jessica had never told anybody but when her parents had told her about The Draw a year earlier, she had been angry and upset enough to want to leave town for good.

She hadn't gone through with it, though. It would have broken her parents' hearts. And what about Gina who had stuck by her side through thick and thin?

So she learned to keep her opinions about the situation to herself and spent her time perfecting an impassive expression that gave nothing away. There was no point in letting everyone see that she did not want to be there.

The King, who the prince had definitely inherited his looks from, and the Queen, a pretty red-headed woman, walked onto the stage. "We thank you all for gathering here today for The Draw. Now we will select the name of the girl who will be wed to our son."

Two servants walked onto the stage, carefully carrying a glass bowl filled with hundreds of paper slips. Written on these slips were the names of all the eligible girls.

Jessica eyed the bowl with dislike, knowing that two of those slips had not just her own name but Gina's too. She squeezed Gina's hand tightly, hoping against all hope that neither of them would be chosen. It would be more than she could bear.

The Queen walked over to the bowl and slipped her hand into it, feeling around until she grabbed hold of a piece of paper and returned to her husband at the centre of the stage.

"And the lucky girl who will be the bride of our son and heir to our throne is..." The King paused for dramatic effect and Jessica found herself wishing he'd just get on with it. Many of the girls were eagerly leaning forward, waiting to hear their own names being called.

Gina smiled at her and Jessica smiled back. No matter what happened, they would always be best friends and sisters. Nothing could ever change that.

Not even The Draw.

"Jessica Herleins!"


	28. January 28 - Anxiety

_AN: Once more, so sorry for the lateness, guys! The only time I can really write uninterrupted is on a night when I should be sleeping and, because I'm so tired, I just fall asleep before I can actually finish writing. But I do my best to catch up and I appreciate your patience. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _793_

* * *

The four friends were planning on enjoying a day at the shopping mall. At least Jessica was. After Gina had unexpectedly caught a bad cold, she had to cancel the shopping trip they'd planned.

But Jessica hadn't despaired. Instead she had asked Toby, Nick and Lucas to go with her instead and, after some time, they had begrudgingly agreed.

She didn't know what they were so afraid of. Shopping was fun, everyone knew that. She would spend the whole day at the mall if she could.

* * *

"Remind me why we were talked into this again!" Toby complained to Nick and Lucas as they waited for Jessica to arrive.

"Because she's stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer," Nick replied simply, causing his brother to roll his eyes.

They quickly stopped talking when Jessica walked through the door. She looked overjoyed, a wide smile on her face. "We're going to have so much fun, right, guys?"

Ordinarily Toby would have responded with a resounding no, but the look of happiness she was giving them made him stay quiet instead. He wanted her to be happy, even if that meant having to spend the day bored out of his wits at the mall.

* * *

After a few hours of shopping, they met up at the main section on the upper level of the mall. Each of them was holding at least one bag of items that they had purchased from the various shops.

Nick glanced at the nearby escalators. The one that traveled downwards was packed and the line of people waiting to use it was far too long. "Mom said we had to be home before it gets dark!" he reminded the others. "But, at this rate, we'll _never_ get there!"

"Why don't we try the elevators?" Lucas suggested. "It's got to be quicker than waiting around here!"

Jessica felt a brief wave of nausea at the mention of elevators but brushed it off as she followed the others to the back of the upper floor where the elevators were located.

When they eventually found them, Nick pressed a button that opened the silver doors and the four friends stepped inside. Hesitantly, in Jessica's case.

The button for the ground floor was pressed and the elevator began its downward journey. The nausea Jessica had felt mere minutes earlier returned in full force. She felt as if she were being closed in. Suddenly she wasn't thirteen inside an elevator with her friends - she was four and her mother was shouting at her angrily as she forced her into the cupboard under the stairs, locking the door from the outside.

 _"And you can stay there until your useless father gets home, you little brat!"_

The elevator finally came to a stop. Somehow she managed to step out of it. There was noise all around her but it was muffled - the only clear sound was the sound of her mother's voice. Her chest felt tight, like she couldn't breathe. Her vision kept blurring and clearing as she stood, rooted to the spot, unable to move. She was being crushed but the walls were totally still...

* * *

Toby walked out of the mall with Nick and Lucas who were discussing what they'd bought. He turned to Jessica, perhaps to tease her about how many shoes she'd bought. But, to his shock, Jessica wasn't there. "Uh, guys, Jess isn't here!"

The boys looked around them, expressions of confusion on their faces. Jessica had been with them when they'd left the elevator. They were sure of that.

"You two get home," Toby instructed. "There's no use in us all getting into trouble for being late back. I'll go try and find her."

After a moment of hesitation, Toby watched the others leave before running back inside the mall. He had to find Jessica. What if something bad had happened to her?

He found her on the upper floor sitting on a bench, a paper bag next to her. Not sure what to say, he did what only seemed natural to him and hugged her tightly. She looked pale and scared but hugged him back, shaking slightly.

He was so relieved that she was safe that he didn't register half of what the female employee nearby was saying. He caught the words "panic attack" but that was about it. He'd heard of panic attacks before but he'd never actually seen anyone have one. Guilt washed over him. He should have been there for her. Always.

What they both clearly heard her say is, "You'll be alright now your boyfriend's here."

Neither of them bothered to correct her.


	29. January 29 - Hypnotic

_AN: This is a nice little game of catch up I'm playing here. I'd just like to thank the people who reviewed lately and in general. Your support really means a lot and I'm happy to hear that you enjoy my fics!_

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):**_ _730_

She was a hypnotist. There was no other way to explain it. Any time he was asked to do something, he would find himself agreeing in a heartbeat. He didn't know how she did it.

"Hey, Toby," she had said to him one afternoon. "Can we go and get something to eat at _Mabel's_?"

"Why? It's cold," he whined. It was the middle of winter after all. He would have much preferred not to leave the house.

"Which is precisely why I want to get something to eat," she said snarkily.

Toby still refused. Suddenly he was acutely aware of her face being a lot closer to his than it had been moments earlier. He could see the different shades in her sky-blue eyes. She widened her eyes innocently, causing a strange feeling to rise up in his stomach.

"Alright," he relented. "We'll go and get food if you really want to!"

Wait, what? How did- Toby had no idea what had just happened and he was even more confused when he felt her lips press against his cheek. His skin tingled slightly when she pulled away. Perhaps it was a side effect of the hypnotism she'd clearly just used on him.

So once again he found himself bending to her whim. It was getting to the point where he couldn't even fight it and, frighteningly, most of the time, he didn't want to. But how was he supposed to resist when she pulled that look on him?

Oddly enough, she never attempted the same thing on Nick or Lucas. Or anyone else, really. It baffled him. What made him so special?

One day he decided that he was going to see if he could hypnotize _her._ She clearly had some kind of effect on him so maybe it worked the other way around as well. At least, that was what he was hoping.

He approached her where she was sitting in the garden and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Jess," he greeted her. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not but his voice sounded nervous. "I - uh - I kinda need your help with that Geography homework."

Without even looking up, she responded, "Shouldn't you be asking Nick?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm asking _you._ " And now he sounded like he was flirting with her. This was not going according to plan. He couldn't afford to get distracted.

She finally looked up at him. "Sorry," she said, turning him down. Now was his chance to test out his theory.

He moved forward until he was mere inches away from her and took her face in his hands. His fingertips tingled but he ignored the sensation as he heard her breath hitch. Taking a breath of his own, he proceeded to stare intently into her eyes.

After a few moments of this, he was astonished to hear her...laughing? Why was she laughing?

"Toby, what are you doing?" Jessica asked breathlessly as she tried to control herself.

A little sulky that his plan clearly hadn't worked, he responded, "Trying to hypnotize you! So you know how it feels!"

Jessica wasn't sure whether to be confused or amused by this. She had no idea how Toby had reached the conclusion that she was somehow hypnotizing him.

Toby, meanwhile, had had an idea. It was a risky one and would probably end up with her breaking his jaw but he had never been one to shy away from an idea because of the risks involved.

He gently tilted her face upwards, hoped that she really wouldn't hit him, and closed the gap between them.

When he pulled away, he noticed the slightly dazed expression on her face. Her lips remained slightly parted, as though she expected more.

"Well, it looks like I can hypnotize you as well!" he said smugly. She nodded mutely, too stunned to argue. Instead she leaned forward and kissed him again.

Finally she spoke. "You like me." It wasn't a question but a statement. She took a deep breath and added, "And I like you."

Toby was about to deny it when he heard the last part. She liked him? He had to have heard her wrong, right?

"You know, I think I'll help you with that homework after all."


	30. January 30 - Ice

_AN: I cannot apologize enough for how late this is. My mum had to go into hospital on Friday and I've been trying to catch up on missed sleep as well as this. Thanks once again to_ **Typereg** _for designing the cover - it looks amazing. And thanks to all of you for being so patient and supportive. I cannot express how much it means. Enjoy the one shot!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _990_

* * *

Toby found himself waking up one winter morning and thought it was much colder than the weather forecast had predicted. It was hardly surprising - when was the weather forecast ever accurate?

Being careful not to wake his sleeping wife, he swung his legs out of bed and tried to stand up. The second he did, however, his feet slid around and he ended up falling flat on his face.

The noise abruptly awoke his wife who sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," he said, rubbing his back. When he attempted to stand up, his feet started sliding around again. "What's going on!" he exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Jessica hissed. "You'll wake up Tori!" She looked down at the floor to see what had caused her husband's sudden clumsiness and was shocked by what she saw. "Look!" she said to her husband, pointing at the floor.

Toby looked down at where his wife's finger was pointing and gasped. The entire floor was covered in a layer of ice. It was no wonder he hadn't been able to stand up properly. They'd need skates to be able to manoeuvre through the house.

"We need to check on Tori!" Jessica whispered urgently. Since it was winter, she had made sure to wrap her daughter up snugly but she didn't want to take any chances. The thought of her precious baby falling ill because of the cold weather was almost unbearable.

After some struggling and a few near-misses, the couple finally managed to make their way out of their bedroom before heading next door to the nursery.

What they saw when they opened the door surprised them even more than the ice on their bedroom floor.

Tori was laid in her crib, gurgling happily. That, in itself, was pretty normal. What wasn't normal was the fact that it was snowing. In the nursery.

Their four month old daughter didn't seem at all bothered by the cold temperature or the ice and snow. In fact, judging from her general demeanour, she seemed to be enjoying it.

She moved her hands and Jessica noticed _another_ snow flurry form. "It's not possible..." she whispered disbelievingly. "Toby, I know this sounds crazy but...I think Tori did this!"

"But that's not possible...is it?" Toby said, looking around at the nursery.

The couple watched their daughter intently. As soon as she waved her hands, another snow flurry materialised and she let out a happy gurgle.

"S-She just-" Toby stuttered, unable to say anything properly. He finally managed to say one word: "How?"

Neither of them could quite believe what they had just seen yet they had seen it so it had to have happened.

Jessica shrugged, scooping their daughter out of the crib and holding her close. "Ice-based powers? It makes sense, I guess. You have water, I have air. Whenever we combined our powers, it usually created ice."

Toby looked a little sulky. "I can't believe my own daughter got the hang of using ice powers faster than I did! It took me two years before I could use them!" he complained jokingly.

"And if I recall, the only reason you got the hang of them at all was because you had help from Tentaclion!" Jessica reminded him, smiling. She kissed her daughter's forehead as Toby wrapped his arms around them. As an afterthought, she asked, "Hey, do you think she can make ice cream too?"

They both laughed as they remembered how the power Tentaclion had given Toby to be able to instantly freeze water had somehow become the power to create ice cream when in human form. It came in very useful sometimes too.

"We should probably get rid of all this snow and ice before it melts and floods the house," Jessica pointed out. Tori let out a sad little whimper and the couple exchanged looks, the sound tugging at their heartstrings.

"Maybe we should leave it...just for today." Toby said uneasily.

"I don't believe this!" Jessica exclaimed before turning to Tori, saying, "You've got Daddy wrapped around your little finger, haven't you?"

"No!" Toby protested. "Well, okay, yes," he admitted upon seeing his wife's deadpan expression. "But if she has ice powers, I just thought: she can probably create hail too! If she gets upset...hail hurts!"

Jessica sighed and relented, realizing her husband had a point. "You'll get in touch with Nick?"

"Yeah," he responded. "Genius Boy ought to have an explanation."

* * *

"That's impossible," Nick stated after Toby and Jessica, the latter of whom was holding Tori, explained what had happened yesterday morning. They had managed to persuade Tori to let them remove the ice and snow eventually but promised she could create more very soon.

"It's the truth, Nick," Jessica told him. "The whole inside of the house was covered in ice and snow!"

"But Gormiti aren't supposed to display any powers until they're a year old at the earliest!" Nick argued.

Lucas piped up, "Tori won't exactly _be_ a normal Gormiti, will she? Think about it - she's the daughter of _two_ Lords of Nature!"

This statement silenced them all. Lucas had a point. It made sense that Tori's powers would reveal themselves early but now they were worried. If the Lava Gormiti discovered this, the infant's life would be in constant peril. Not that it wasn't already.

As though she somehow knew she were talked about, Tori once more waved her tiny hands and flurries of snow began to fall.

The adults watched her, awe and sadness in their eyes. It should have been a joyous occasion but they were all worried about where it could lead to.

"We have to protect her..." Jessica began.

"...no matter what," Toby finished for her.


	31. January 31 - Expand

_AN: Once again, I can only apologize for how long these are taking me to write. I guess the important thing is that they will all be uploaded eventually (even if they are uploaded out of order). Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1420_

* * *

Jessica wasn't sure how the rumor started but somehow a lot of people thought she and Toby were only getting married because she was expecting a baby.

It was completely false, of course. Though they had taken their relationship to a physical level, they were always careful. They did plan on having children some day but not for a couple of years, yet. But, with them both being only eighteen, many people had jumped to the same conclusion.

She found it annoying. She was about to marry the love of her life, her soulmate, and she could hear people making bets on how long it would be before they divorced.

Toby told her to ignore them. It didn't matter what they thought. What mattered was that they were getting married because they were in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

* * *

It would be another two years before the topic of expanding their family was brought up.

They were sitting in the living room when Jessica said quietly, "I want to have a baby."

Toby looked at her. "Are you sure? This is a huge deal, you know."

Determined, she told him, "I've never been more sure about anything in my life." She wanted to have the chance to be a better mother than her own.

She hugged him tightly as he agreed, knowing that he wanted a baby as badly as she did.

So they started trying. To their surprise, Jessica fell pregnant fairly quickly. They were ecstatic at the thought of being parents, having a child - their child - running around the house.

But their happiness didn't last. A mere fortnight after they had announced her pregnancy to everyone, Jessica was rushed into hospital, bleeding heavily. She and Toby were eventually informed by an apologetic doctor that she had suffered a miscarriage.

The couple were utterly devastated, even more so than their friends when they were told. Even though the doctor had assured them that neither of them were to blame, they still blamed themselves. Not each other, though. Never each other.

* * *

Jessica sat in _Mabel's_ with Gina, nursing a cup of hot chocolate. It was the week leading up to Christmas and the entire cafe had been decked in decorations.

Gina had suggested the trip to cheer her up after her sixth miscarriage two months earlier. It had been almost two years since they'd first started trying for a baby and there had been little success so far. She had lost each baby before the end of the first trimester.

"Toby thinks we should stop trying..." Jessica said quietly.

"What?" Gina exclaimed incredulously. "I thought he wanted a kid as much as you did!"

"No, no, that's not..." Jessica protested, realizing that Gina had misunderstood what she was trying to say. "We think that if we stop trying to have a baby, if I end up falling pregnant - which, let's face it, I probably will - it'll actually make it to full term."

Gina took a bite of her cookie as she tried to comprehend what her friend had just said. "So let it happen in its own time rather than trying to rush it?" she guessed and Jessica nodded.

"Well, it's not like you've had any trouble _getting_ pregnant! It's just the _staying_ pregnant, that's the problem, isn't it?" Gina said cheerily.

"And the doctors can't find any reason for it at all," Jessica added. "According to them, there should be no reason why I can't carry a baby to full term." She let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, G, I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth it anymore!"

"Of _course_ it is!" Gina insisted. "If anybody deserves to have a baby, you and Toby do! I can't think of two people who'd make better parents!"

"She's not wrong, dearie," Granny Mabel chimed in. "The moment I saw the two of you together, I could see your futures right before my eyes. You were destined. And you'll have a baby soon, I guarantee it!"

"Thanks, Granny Mabel!" Jessica smiled before finishing off her hot chocolate. It was nice to be encouraged but, after all the pain, she was starting to lose hope...

* * *

Toby opened the front door and walked into the house. Normally Jessica would either be cooking their dinner or be in the living room but there was no sign of his wife.

"Jess!" he called out before he heard the sound of sniffling. He rushed upstairs and ended up outside the bathroom door. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he heard his wife sob.

The handle clicked and the door swung open, revealing Jessica on her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. Toby didn't hesitate and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. Panicked, he asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Jessica silently held up a white stick for him to take. She let out a few more sobs as he turned it around, seeing the screen illuminated with a tiny pink plus sign.

"I was late," she murmured. Toby understood the meaning of her words but remained silent. "So I picked up a couple of tests from the chemist. They all came back positive."

Toby felt her body shaking as she cried into his chest. "I can't do this! I can't go through it again, Toby! I just can't!"

"It's okay," he whispered soothingly. "It's all gonna be okay..." He rubbed her back as she clung to him for comfort. "We'll get through this...together."

"But what if it happens again?" Jessica choked out. "I can't face the idea of us losing another baby!" She had suffered six miscarriages over two years. She wasn't strong enough to handle a seventh.

Toby placed his hand over her abdomen. It was still flat - it would be a while before her pregnancy became obvious. "I know I've said this before but I think this one's going to make it. She's a fighter like her mom."

"You're right," she said flatly. "You _have_ said that before." Suddenly she lifts her head off his chest. "Wait a minute... _she?"_

Toby shrugged. "I just have this feeling she's a girl," he responded. "And she'll be as beautiful as you and hopefully just as smart."

Despite her doubts, Jessica felt her cheeks burn at the compliment. Toby watched her lips curve upwards into an involuntary smile. "I _know_ you're scared, love," he continued. "I'm scared, too, and I'm not the one who has to go through the whole being pregnant thing. So I'd be surprised if you weren't worried. But if we just take things one day at a time, maybe it'll turn out okay."

Jessica curled up closer to him. "How do you always know what to say?" She felt him kiss her forehead.

"I wasn't aware I did," he told her. "I just want to be there for you in any way I can. I wouldn't ever let you go through this alone, Jess - I love you too much for that."

They continued to hold on to each other for a while until Toby remembered something. "So what are we going to tell people?"

"Do we have to tell anyone?" Jessica whispered. "I don't want to get people's hopes up."

Toby smiled affectionately. "Hey, if you don't want anyone else to know, that's fine by me. You know I'll support whatever decision you make."

"And I can always change my mind later," Jessica pointed out. "I just don't feel it's fair to get everyone excited for a baby when there's every possibility I might lose this one too."

They stood up together before finally leaving the bathroom and heading back downstairs. "You go relax, love," Toby told his wife. "I'll make you something to drink."

She thanked him. A drink would help. He hadn't offered to make food, which was a relief after what had happened last time. At the moment, she didn't have much of an appetite and decided she'd make a sandwich or something simple later on.

It would be difficult, the next nine months, give or take. But if they stuck together, they knew they could make it through anything.


	32. February 1 - Match

_AN: I suck so much, guys! I can only apologize once again but also hope that you enjoy this (even if it did take a ridiculous amount of time to write). I will strive to get more of these out when I can! Thank you for sticking with me!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _744_

* * *

"No," Jessica said, staring down at the piece of paper on her desk in absolute horror. "No, no, no, no..."

Gina looked at her best friend and tentatively said, "Jess?"

Jessica either didn't hear her or just completely ignored her as she continued to mutter "no" under her breath. She finally exclaimed after a minute, "Why is this happening to _me?"_

Thinking that the piece of paper was the reason behind Jessica's odd behaviour, Gina leaned slightly to her left to be able to read the contents:

 _'Name: Jessica Herleins_

 _Age: Sixteen_

 _Based on your test results, I have determined that your compatible match is...Toby Tripp.'_

Gina wasn't sure whether to laugh or be sympathetic. Last week Mrs Gulinder had decided to make them all take some kind of quiz which apparently would tell them which of their classmates they were the most compatible with. She herself had gotten Lucas which was a relief. Imagine if she'd gotten Ike Pinkney - it would have been an utter nightmare!

But the idea of Jessica being compatible with Toby was absurd, at least to the blonde. The two of them couldn't stand each other - everyone knew that.

"My life is basically over!" Jessica complained dramatically as the boy she hated walked in, only just on time for the lesson

"Ah, Tripp, delighted to see you've decided to join us after all," the teacher deadpanned.

They watched as he walked to his desk and read the piece of paper on it. Jessica glared as he turned around and gave her a smug look before facing the front again.

"He _so_ fancies you," Gina whispered and Jessica firmly shook her head.

"He so doesn't!" she insisted in a hushed voice. She tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying while her dark-haired friend rolled her eyes at her obliviousness.

* * *

After the lesson ended, Toby walked out of the classroom and looked around for one person and one person only.

He finally spotted her with Gina and was about to go over and talk to her when he noticed that they appeared to be having an interesting discussion.

Ignoring the inner voice in his head - which oddly sounded a lot like his mother - he hid behind the wall and tried to catch what they were saying...

* * *

"I still can't believe that compatibility test result!" Jessica complained. "How can I be a match with _him?"_

Gina rolled her eyes. "Maybe you have more in common than you think?" she suggested.

The blonde shook her head stubbornly. "Name _one_ thing we have in common, Gina. One thing."

"Well...you're both stubborn, you both do judo, you're both blonde, you both have..."

"I said _one_ thing!" Jessica interrupted, annoyed at Gina's blatant ignorance.

"In any case, you definitely have a crush on him!" Gina laughed.

The entire school probably heard Jessica's indignant scream of " _What?"_

"Come on, Jess," Gina said patiently. "It's so obvious. The tension between you two is unreal!"

"What _is_ obvious is me hating his guts!" Jessica snapped heatedly.

" _Denial~!"_ Gina sang, watching as Jessica let out an aggravated huff. "Besides, like I said, he fancies you! Everyone knows that!"

Jessica faltered for a moment. "W-What? No, he doesn't! All he ever does is make fun of me!"

Once more, Gina rolled her eyes. "Jess, I love you and everything but you can be so _dense_ sometimes! Did you ever consider that he only ever makes fun of you because he's trying to get your attention?"

"I am _not_ dense!" Jessica protested, gesturing wildly with her hands. "And I _don't_ have a crush on Toby!"

Jessica frowned. What Gina was saying made no sense to her. She didn't have a crush on Toby.

Did she?

* * *

Toby figured he should probably disappear before either girl noticed him eavesdropping. Now _that_ would be an awkward conversation.

He headed down the corridor until he found Nick and Lucas, an uncontrollable grin on his face.

"What's gotten _you_ so happy?" Nick asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing." Toby responded, still grinning. "Nothing at all."

After what he had overheard, he didn't think anything would ever be able to shatter his good mood. He didn't feel like sharing the reason for his overwhelming happiness just yet. She may have denied it but he knew much better.

Jessica had a crush on him.


	33. February 2 - Pop

_AN: This one shot was so weird to write! It probably sucks but maybe someone will enjoy it. Who knows?_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1518_

* * *

 _Pop! Pop! Pop!_

"Can you please stop doing that?" the ten year old Jessica asked, agitated, as she tried to ignore the annoying sound coming from next to her.

Toby paused the chewing of his gum for a moment and exclaimed, "Come on, Jess! You're just jealous because I can blow bigger gum bubbles than you!" He folded his arms and smirked, making it clear he was challenging her.

"Of course I can!" she said without thinking. The truth was, she'd never been able to blow a gum bubble before but she wasn't about to let Toby know that. He would never let her hear the end of it.

"Well, in that case..." Toby discarded the gum he had just been chewing in the bin before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of gum, taking one stick for himself and holding out another to his friend who silently took it. "...I challenge you to a gum bubble battle!"

Jessica wanted to refuse. She really did. But the temptation of a competition and the opportunity to wipe the smirk off Toby's face motivated her. "Alright," she agreed, trying to sound more confident than she actually felt.

The two of them placed the gum in their mouths and began chewing. After a few moments, Jessica took a deep breath and began to blow as hard as she could, Toby doing the same beside her.

To her astonishment, she found herself actually blowing a bubble! And it was getting bigger and bigger by the second. She turned to see if it was bigger than Toby's. Her recently inflated ego deflated when she saw that his bubble was the same size, if not slightly bigger than, as hers.

She tightened her resolve and blew harder than ever. Slowly but surely her bubble began to increase in size. She chanced a glance at Toby and saw the awed and slightly jealous look in his eyes as her bubble was now larger than his.

 _Yes! I'm gonna beat him!_

Soon both their bubbles were in serious danger of popping. It was either that, or their lungs would give out, desperate for breath. The two friends kept glancing at each other, judging the size of each other's bubbles, wondering whether they should risk blowing their own any bigger.

 _Pop! Pop!_

At once, both of their bubbles burst, causing them to jump. "Told you I could blow gum bubbles bigger than you!" Jessica said, feeling more than a little smug about it.

"They were the same size!" Toby protested before he grinned and added softly, "You were pretty impressive, considering you'd never done it before."

"Of _course_ I was!" It took a couple of seconds for the girl to register what her friend had actually said. Immediately she spun on her heel to face him, hands flying to her hips as she frowned. "Wait a minute! How did you know I'd never done it before?"

Toby grinned and simply began to move towards the house. "Hey, don't ignore me!" she protested, starting to chase after him. "Toby, get back here! I asked you a question so you have to answer it!"

Nick looked up as his brother and friend charged into the living room, arguing about something or other. _No change there, then._ He shrugged his shoulders before popping a piece of gum into his mouth and beginning to chew.

The two blondes heard the familiar noise and stopped dead, their heads swiveling to face Nick who continued chewing, oblivious to their turmoil. Exchanging fear-filled looks, they screamed, "Not again!" and fled outside into the garden.

"Those two are weird..." Nick commented, blowing a gum bubble and allowing it to pop. "So very weird indeed."

* * *

 _Pop! Pop! Pop!_

"I thought I could smell something delicious!" Toby exclaimed as he walked into the house. He kissed his girlfriend's forehead. "What's the occasion?"

Jessica smiled. "Well, tonight's movie night and who can watch movies without popcorn?"

"People who don't like or can't eat it?" Toby pointed out snarkily and Jessica playfully frowned at him. "Anyway which flavours did you get?"

"One of each," she responded. "I know you don't like sweet popcorn so I'll probably end up eating that. Just save me some of the salted, though. I like that too."

Toby nodded before jumping slightly as the popcorn popped particularly loudly. "I didn't jump!" he said quickly, looking at Jessica who covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

"Of course you didn't..." she said, deadpan, as she sorted the popcorn into two bowls, leaving some in her hand before popping it into her mouth and savouring the flavour.

When she walked into the living room, she saw that Toby had the TV remote in his hand. "Action and comedy?" he asked, having already selected the genres. When it came to Jessica, romance movies were a big no-no.

"Action and comedy," she responded. She sat down, placing the bowls on the table, and took the remote from his hand to select a movie.

 _"The Hunger Games?"_ Toby grinned as the movie began playing. "I should have guessed." The book trilogy turned movie quadrilogy was his girlfriend's absolute favourite. She was incapable of not talking about it whenever they watched it together.

"Shut up, you goof," Jessica said affectionately, resting her head against his shoulder. "You like this movie too, remember?"

As the movie began playing, they tucked into the popcorn. Occasionally they would absent-mindedly reach into the same bowl, their hands brushing before they pulled away, faces red as tomatoes. It was a common reaction, even though they'd been dating for three years already.

They would make comments on things that they found interesting or that just didn't make any sense. It annoyed many other people who just wanted to enjoy the movies but Jessica and Toby thoroughly enjoyed nit-picking at every detail. It often led to some very fascinating discussions between them.

Once the popcorn bowls were empty about three-quarters through the movie, Jessica got up to put some more in the microwave. When she returned, the overall noise of the movie - which was a bit quiet at that point - was disturbed by the sound of the occasional _pop!_

When the movie ended, they watched the sequels before flipping a coin to decide who should pick what movie series they would watch next. Toby won it, much to his relief. As much as he and Jessica had the same taste in movie genres, they often disagreed on what movie to watch. But watching a variety of different movies was fun, even if all they ended up doing was taking the mick out of them.

"Okay, I'm not sure but I think we're all out of popcorn!" Jessica exclaimed after the end of the seventh movie. She got up and checked the cupboards, hoping to find a stray packet hidden at the back. "Yeah, there's none left."

"You're telling me that, between the two of us, we ate _all_ the popcorn?" Toby asked incredulously as Jessica returned to the living room and sat down next to him. When his girlfriend nodded in response, he let out a dismayed groan. "Mom is gonna kill us. And by us, I mean probably just me because she loves you. Everyone loves you. Especially me. Did I mention I love you? Because..."

Jessica reached over and covered his mouth with her hand, trying to keep a straight face. "Toby, you're rambling. How are you still this nervous around me? We've been dating for three years!" The two of them were sixteen, yet they felt so strongly about one another.

She shook her head. "If it's really such a big deal, we'll buy more popcorn tomorrow to replace what we ate today, alright?" He looked up at her questioningly and she rolled her eyes before adding, "And, besides, it was _my_ idea to cook the popcorn. If anyone should get the blame for using it all, it should be me!"

"Nah," he disagreed. "If we're playing the blame game here, we should both take the blame. We both ate the popcorn!"

Jessica thought of something rather amusing. "Well, at least there won't be any more pops to make you jump!" she pointed out cheerfully.

"I didn't jump!" Toby protested, a hint of a whine in his voice. "I'm telling you now - those pops did _not_ make me jump!"

Jessica shook her head, making it clear that she did not believe him. "Whatever you say, Toby. Whatever you say."

Toby frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" Jessica started laughing, unable to control herself. "Jess?"

"Admit it. You jumped."

The boy stood up and hugged her from behind. "Alright, fine, I jumped. They just caught me off guard."

Jessica smiled softly, turning around to face him. "Now was that really so hard to admit?" she asked before kissing him.


	34. February 3 - Report

_AN: Hope this one's enjoyable. It's a strange one, I know._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1944_

* * *

 _A Report on Family_

 _By Jessica Herleins_

 _Age 9_

 _People say that a family is the people you live with - your mom and dad, any siblings you might have._

 _If I talked about them alone, I wouldn't have much to say. My mom's name is Monica Herleins. She inherited a super-successful business from her parents_ _so she's constantly busy. She's good at her job, though._

 _Then there's my dad, Aaron Herleins. He used to be in the army but he had to leave before I was born. I don't know why. My dad's a really good artist. He doesn't draw a lot now, though, because he's always sad. I don't like him being sad._

 _But family doesn't just have to mean the people you're related to, right? What about your friends? I consider my friends to be my family so I'm going to talk about them too._

 _First there's Gina. We first met when we were six. She'd just moved to Venture Falls with her parents and she didn't know anybody. On her first day, she looked so scared so I approached her and offered to show her around. Ever since then, she's been my best girl friend. In fact, she's almost like a sister to me. We have a lot in common - shopping, clothes, shoes, talking on the phone._

 _Next - Lucas. Lucas is quite possibly the nicest person you'll ever meet unless you do something to harm the environment. Then he'll become your worst nightmare. He gets his love for nature from his parents who run a flowers and plants centre. He isn't sure whether he wants to be a vet or a botanist yet but I'm sure he'd be great at either. He can be a little dense sometimes but it doesn't seem to bother people._

 _Then there's Nick. He's a year younger than me but he's already an absolute genius! He's never got a question wrong on a test yet. He doesn't rub it in people's faces, though. If someone needs help, he's always willing to lend a hand. He wants to work in science and engineering, maybe even get a degree._ _I can imagine him as a teacher, though I'm not sure he'd enjoy it._

 _Last but not least, there's Toby..._

Jessica abruptly stopped typing, the excuse being that she needed to read through what she'd already written. She clicked Save and moved the cursor back to where it was originally. Her gaze fell on the keyboard in front of her. What was she supposed to write?

She had a feeling that whatever she wrote wouldn't be enough to convey just how much she cared for him. If she wrote that he was her best friend, while it was technically true, she'd be lying.

He was also her first crush. But she couldn't write _that_ on her report - it would be too embarrassing. Besides he didn't even know she liked him like that. To be fair, she hadn't even known herself until about a year ago.

She and Gina had been talking in the playground one day when Gina - who had a massive and very obvious crush on Lucas - started in on how she'd realized she had feelings for the boy in the first place.

Jessica had remained silent, merely listening, her friend's voice a background hum. Despite appearances, what her friend said to her remained stuck in her head.

Over the coming days, she began to notice the signs that Gina had mentioned. She didn't want to admit it because it made her feel stupid but the signs had been there for a while.

After some time, she figured it out. She had a crush on her best friend. And nobody was to find out, especially him.

She drummed her fingers on her desk. "Come on, come on," she muttered, hoping for some inspiration. Her hand moved to hover hesitantly over the keyboard. "Well, may as well write something..."

 _What can I say about Toby? Many people see him as some idiot who can't take anything seriously. He'd probably agree with that, too. But he was my first friend ever and a lot of people don't see his good qualities. He's really good at making people laugh - well, those with a sense of humour, anyway - which can be a good thing when everyone's moody and miserable. He's stubborn and never gives up, which is a bit like me, really. And, even though he can be very hyper at times, whenever I'm down, he's always there for me._

 _One thing I find annoying is how a lot of people mistake us for being brother and sister, just because we're both blonde and have blue eyes. Let me just clarify: we're **not** related - not even distantly. That doesn't mean that I don't see him as being part of my family, just that we're not actually related like everyone seems to think._

 _Out of all my friends, he's probably the closest, mainly because he was the one who befriended me first. Maybe it's because we're kind of similar. Who knows?_

 _To end this report, I want to say that the members of my family - related or not - have all helped to make me a better person and I hope that they will continue to in the future._

* * *

 _My Family Report_

 _By Toby Tripp_

 _Age 9_

 _I suppose I should talk about my parents first. My parents are Karen and Mick Tripp. They own Tripp's Trips, the local travel agency. And they're obsessed with baking and cooking. They're_ _always in the kitchen. Still, at least Nick and I get good food out of it._

 _Speaking of Nick, he's my little brother. He's a year younger than me and he's smarter than me, too. He annoys me sometimes, especially when he snitches on me for no reason. But he's the only brother I've got and he can be pretty cool... sometimes._

 _I have quite a few cousins on my mom's side. My mom's parents were from Ireland so we have some relatives over there. I won't talk about_ _all of them because we'll be here all day. I will mention one, though, my cousin Felix. He's about the same age as me and everyone says he's my Irish doppel...whatsit. Totally not_ _true - I'm nothing like him. He's more annoying than Nick (yes, that's possible)! His jokes are terrible and when he visited, he kept taking the credit for my awesome pranks!He said his pranks are better than mine but I had the last laugh in the end._

 _Well, as far as family goes, there's not much else to write about. We're a pretty ordinary family. But...I can write about my friends, right? Do friends count as family? Because, if they don't, they do now._

 _First there's Lucas. I've known him a pretty long time. His parents are friends with my parents so whenever they came round to visit, Lucas would end up playing with us. The first time he visited, - I was about three or four at the time - I caught him talking to Mom's rose bush. How weird. Did he think the plant was gonna talk back? Despite that, we ended up becoming good friends, the three of us._

 _Then there's Jessica. I met her on the first day of school. She looked really lonely so I decided I was gonna be her best friend. And that's what we've been ever since. She's pretty cool for a girl. Even though she likes girly stuff like shopping and clothes and stuff, she's tough, too. One time I almost hit her in the face with a soccer ball. Most girls would have screamed and freaked out or started crying. Not her. She kicked it straight back and actually hit me in the face (accidentally, of course). She couldn't apologize enough but I just thought it was funny, to be honest._

 _I could say more but I think I've written enough now. Family is important, even if they annoy you, I guess._

Toby read over his report, right-clicking the word he'd struggled to remember. The spellchecker brought up _doppelganger._ That _was_ the word he wanted, right? He clicked it and " _doppel...whatsit"_ was replaced by " _doppelganger_

Maybe he could have written something about his other cousins but none of them were very interesting. They were either older than him or younger than him. In fact, the only reason Felix was so interesting was because he was so annoying!

Figuring he was finished, he pressed the Save button. It may have been last minute but he'd done the work at least. His teacher couldn't complain.

* * *

On Monday, the class of third grade students sat in their seats as Mr Stevens, a man with prematurely greying hair read through the reports. He was easygoing and the students loved him.

"Well, kids, you've all done a great job," he said. "But... Toby Tripp, would you care to explain why I haven't had your report?"

Toby let out a groan of dismay. He'd sent the report. He knew he had. Their home computer must have messed up again - it wouldn't be the first time and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"I did send it, Sir. I don't know why you haven't got it," he said honestly, hoping that Mr Stevens would believe him but knowing he'd still get a detention anyway.

"Well, unfortunately for you, kiddo, you'll have plenty of time to rewrite it in detention," Mr Stevens responded.

The blonde wanted to complain but wisely kept his mouth shut. It would be a bit difficult to explain the temperamental behaviour of their home computer. Also his teacher would just ask why he hadn't used the computers at the school library which would force him to admit that he had left the work until the last minute...again.

Nick, who was sitting next to him, nudged him and muttered, "Maybe this'll teach you not to always leave your homework 'til the last minute!"

Toby huffily told him to shut up as Mr Stevens announced, "Now, before we begin today's lesson, would anyone like to read their report to the class? Come on now, don't be shy!"

Given that he had no report to read, Toby wasn't about to offer to do so. He looked at Nick but his younger brother seemed reluctant somewhat.

Surprisingly a couple of brave students volunteered - Nick not being one of them. Out of the corner of his eye, Toby noticed Jessica shrinking down into her seat and smiled to himself. Jessica _hated_ having to speak in front of the class. She was hardly likely to want to read her report out loud - she'd probably rather give up shopping for a year.

He found himself wondering what she'd written in her report. Would she get mad at him if he asked her? The report had been on family and from what he'd seen, Jessica's family wasn't the greatest.

He'd written about her.

Had she written about him too?


	35. February 6 - Please

_AN: So sorry I'm so far behind, guys. My mum got out of hospital yesterday and I'm already stressed, which is fun. Thought I'd do a continuation of that one shot where Toby gets killed, since it ended so awkwardly. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _109_

* * *

"Please, Officer," the young woman begged. "How did - how did my husband die?"

Officer Davis sighed. This was the part of his job he _especially_ hated. "I-I'm not sure I should..." he said hesitantly. He looked at the woman again and was forcefully reminded of the fact that not only had she lost her husband but her unborn child had also lost its father.

"Please," she insisted. "I _need_ to know!"

"I'm afraid to say he was stabbed, ma'am," he said, after much deliberation.

" _Stabbed?"_ she begins sobbing again. "Why would - who would..."

"Your husband was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."


	36. February 7 - Conserve

_AN: Hope you enjoy this one! I'll try to post some more today if I can._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _567_

* * *

Jessica felt her wings aching as she carried Toby around the Lava Nation. The two of them were looking for Magmion who had stolen an artifact they needed to help the Earth Nation before fleeing via Cerberion.

Ordinarily this wouldn't have caused too much trouble but the longer she stayed up in the air, the faster she flew, the more exhausted she became.

Her wings were noticeably flapping slower and slower. It was all she could do to keep them both airborne. She was so worried about the possibility of them falling that she barely heard Toby telling her she needed to rest.

At that point, she almost _did_ stop flying. "Rest? _Rest!"_ she shouted. "Toby, we haven't got _time_ to rest!"

"Yes, we do," he said simply. "You think I haven't noticed how exhausted you are? When we find Magmion, you'll be so worn out you won't be able to do anything!"

"Okay...you have a point," she admitted begrudgingly. She was getting tired and a little cranky.

"I spotted a island nearby. We can rest there!" Toby exclaimed, relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about them falling from a great height.

Jessica flew in the direction Toby was pointing, wondering how long he had been thinking of asking them to rest. It didn't take too long before the island her boyfriend had been referring to came into view.

They landed on the sand and looked around. The island seemed to be comprised mainly of the beach they were standing on and a forest nearby.

"It's beautiful!" Jessica exclaimed, not knowing where to look. "How have we never found this place before?"

"I knew you'd like it," Toby said, smiling at his girlfriend who was radiating pure happiness. The island was the _perfect_ place to relax.

The couple sat down on the beach and looked out towards the glittering blue ocean. "If we ever come back here, we should bring Nick and Lucas too!" Jessica suggested.

Toby frowned a little. "Or we could keep it to ourselves!" Jessica looked at him and he elaborated with, "You know, our own special place!"

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer and felt delighted when she rested her head against him. "Feel any better?"

She simply nodded, not wanting to ruin the moment. The atmosphere was perfect.

Toby smiled, leaning in towards her, throwing caution to the wind. He noticed Jessica subconsciously leaning in too. For a moment, their eyes met...

* * *

The sound of evil laughter interrupted their moment. The couple looked up to see Magmion sitting on Cerberion who was flying west towards Lava territory.

He held the stolen artifact in his hand and seemed to be staring at it, entranced. It meant that he didn't even notice Toby and Jessica in plain sight below him.

"This is our chance!" Toby whispered eagerly. He then yelled loudly, "Hey, Magmy!"

The Volcano Lord looked down, nearly dropping the artifact, and did a double take upon seeing them. "What? _How?"_ he angrily demanded to know.

Jessica rolled her eyes as she and Toby shifted into their battle stances. "Did you really think we were going to let you escape with that artifact?

Now that they were both fully rested, they were more than ready for this battle. They exchanged determined glances before firing their first attacks...


	37. February 8 - Hit

AN: So this one is kind of a funny one! Hope you enjoy!

Words (excluding author's note): 904

* * *

As Tori and Erin came out of school one afternoon, Toby noticed that Erin seemed to be chatting incessantly while Tori looked mildly irritated. It was hardly unusual but, at the same time, his daughter seemed almost angry. He didn't think she was angry at Erin but she was angry at someone...or something. He could tell.

"Hey, Dad, guess what?" Erin said, grinning as she spotted him. She almost ran to him while Tori merely walked. "Someone got a detention today!"

"A detention?" He looked at his eldest daughter, unable to believe it. Tori wasn't the type to do anything that would warrant a detention. "Did you forget your homework or something?" He racked his brains to try and come up with another reason but his mind was blank.

Tori merely looked at him. Apparently she wasn't too talkative - a definitive sign that she was either anxious or angry. If Toby was going to guess, he'd probably go with the latter, given how irritated she'd looked earlier.

Erin, on the other hand, seemed delighted to inform him, "She got into a fight with a sixth grader! It was totally awesome!" She turned to Tori and said admiringly, "I didn't know you had it in you!"

Toby did a double take. That wasn't like Tori. It wasn't like her at all. "You know your mom is gonna have to know about this, don't you?"

His daughter let out a sigh. "Yeah...I know."

* * *

"You did what?" Jessica asked her eldest daughter incredulously when they got home. "What made you think that getting into a fight with a sixth grader was a good idea?"

"Did you win?" Toby asked eagerly, making Erin laugh. He looked at Jessica who was glaring disapprovingly at him and cleared his throat. "I mean...this isn't like you, Tori. You don't usually start fights."

"I didn't start it!" the ten year old girl insisted through gritted teeth. "He was picking on a first grader. I thought he should know better than to pick on someone who can't defend themselves so I told him to leave them alone. It's hardly my fault if he was stupid enough to ignore one warning, let alone three, is it?"

Toby and Jessica looked at one another. The events made a little more sense to them now. Tori may have been introverted but she clearly had a strong sense of justice, much like they did. So she probably would have done anything in her power to help the defenseless kid, even if it wasn't the best thing to have done.

"But you understand that you shouldn't have hit him, don't you?" Jessica questioned. "I know people can be annoying sometimes and they might do things you don't like or agree with but that's no excuse to hit them." Under her breath, she added, "Even though they might deserve it!"

"Yeah," Tori answered. "That's what my teacher said as well. Except for that last bit! Then she made me apologize to him. He got a detention, too. Serves him right for making that poor kid cry!"

Toby laughed at his wife's stunned expression. Clearly she hadn't expected that anyone would hear what she'd said. He certainly hadn't heard it, after all. "We can't get anything past you, can we, rosebud?"

"Are we done talking about it now?" Tori complained. "It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. It won't ever happen again."

"Alright," the three others agreed. As their parents went into the kitchen to start preparing tea, Erin sidled up to her big sister.

"You do know that you besting a sixth grader in a fight is all anyone at school is gonna be talking about!" she pointed out in a low voice.

Tori closed her eyes. She honestly just wanted to forget it had ever happened. Getting angry and lashing out at people wasn't in her character so she felt a little out of sorts.

"They'll forget about it once something else interesting happens," she told Erin. "They always do. The only thing I care about is if that guy stops bullying people!"

"Well, after today, I doubt he'll pick on anyone again, not if you're around. He won't want to risk being laughed at again!" Erin said as she, herself, struggled not to laugh.

"Fancy watching that show you told me about?" Tori asked, changing the subject. Erin's eyes lit up in excitement as they changed the channel. The blonde silently let out a sigh of relief that her suggestion had successfully taken Erin's mind off the day's events. Then again, she didn't have the greatest attention span.

* * *

"No, but, really," Jessica asked suddenly after they'd finished their tea. "Did you win?"

"Did you see any bruises?" Tori responded rhetorically. At once, they all looked at her, their expressions changing from curiosity to admiration, more so in Erin's case.

She looked confused as her parents exchanged almost gleeful glances. She was pretty sure they weren't supposed to approve but they both looked as though Christmas had come early.

"I guess I'm grounded, aren't I?" she said dully. "Two weeks? Three?"

"She won!" Toby exclaimed, ignoring her. "Did she even get hit?"


	38. February 9 - Overcome

_AN: Again, I cannot apologize enough. I'm trying to focus on the shorter ones first as I've been busier than usual with my mum. I'll do my best to catch up at some point (I don't yet know when) but I'll try to post as and when I have time. Enjoy._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _150_

* * *

It wasn't easy at all overcoming a fear. One that's been there since childhood and is difficult to explain and to experience.

Yet they've both had to overcome fears in their life. He had to conquer his fear of spiders in order to save his friends. His heart had pounded wildly in his chest but he had done it. Every instinct he had had told him to run in the opposite direction but he had ignored them and it paid off.

She, meanwhile, had claustrophobia to deal with. It was something she had suffered silently with for a while before any of her friends even noticed. On the occasional mission, she'd be sent to a cavern somewhere and it was all she could do to keep her breathing in check.

They felt that if they could overcome their own fears alone, they could overcome anything together.


	39. February 10 - Sling

_AN: So this one is kinda related to the Cast oneshot in a way. Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _424_

* * *

"What happened to you?"

Jessica looked disdainfully at her friends as they all tried not to laugh. Her right arm was in a cast, much like Toby's had been a few months earlier. Unlike him, however, she also had a sling on, keeping her arm in place.

Toby, who had asked the question, added, "Don't tell me you forgot to use the brakes as well!" Upon seeing her scathing look, he quietly muttered, "No, wait, you're not me."

Nick looked curious. "So what exactly _did_ happen? It can't be as embarrassing as what Toby did!"

"Well," Jessica began as she sat down at the table. "I was walking down the street when I saw this most adorable kitten. I wanted to pet it but I must have scared it or something because it ran straight up a tree!" She sounded almost offended that a kitten wouldn't want her to pet it. "But then it either wouldn't or couldn't come back down so I did what any sensible person would!"

"Went and got an adult to handle the situation?" Lucas suggested hopefully.

"I climbed up that tree to rescue that poor kitten!" Jessica stated proudly. "It was pretty easy, really! The only hard part was climbing back down. Mainly because I didn't. Instead I decided to jump down but I kinda misjudged how high up we were. Well, the kitten made it okay but, well, I...didn't!"

Nick looked exasperatedly between her and Toby as though trying to figure out who he thought had been the dumber one. "I take it back what I said. It _was_ as embarrassing, if not more than, as what Toby did!" Both blondes glared at him for this comment and he grinned sheepishly.

"I'm just glad the kitten was okay in the end!" Lucas piped up. He hated the thought of any animal or plant being hurt in any way.

The bell rang suddenly. "Time to get to class!" Nick said and the four friends stood up and made their way to their classroom.

As they walked, Jessica had an unseen look of relief on her face. She hadn't been sure that her friends would buy her story but they had. She had a talent for convincing people.

Telling them the truth was _not_ an option. She wasn't admitting that she had fallen out of a tree because her parents arguing had scared her so much she'd hidden there to feel safe.

They'd never know.


	40. February 12 - Point

_AN: Another oneshot featuring Tori and Erin. Also Tori is the deadpan snarker of the family. I mean they can all be pretty snarky at times but Tori is absolutely the snarkiest! Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _810_

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Tori said, deadpan, as she and her sister Erin sat on the sofa listening to their parents reminiscing over their younger years. "You guys were fighting just because Mom had a higher score in the judo tournament?"

Toby and Jessica exchanged glances, trying not to laugh at how unimpressed their eldest daughter sounded. "I mean, come on, it's no wonder you both lost - you were probably too busy worrying about each other to notice your _actual_ opponents!"

"Hey, rose bud, what exactly are you insinuating there?" Toby asked, jokingly holding his hands up. Tori may not have been as brutally honest as Louise - that girl couldn't lie if you paid her - but she always spoke her mind, even if she did sound a little harsh in the process. Jessica elbowed him in the ribs and he winced. She _still_ had sharp elbows!

"Well, we _didn't_ pay any attention to how many points our opponents had, did we?" she pointed out and he nodded after a while, remembering that had indeed been the case.

Erin, meanwhile, clapped her hands together. "It does kinda make sense, though. People bicker when they don't wanna admit their attraction to one another!" Tori rolled her eyes - she never understood her sister's obsession with romance. Why was everyone obsessed with relationships? She didn't get it and she doubted she ever would.

"Well, I'm just saying how it sounded to me," she said, choosing to ignore Erin's comment which turned out to be a big mistake.

"And, speaking of people who constantly bicker..." she said slyly, giving her elder sister the side-eye.

If looks could kill, Erin would have found herself six feet under then and there as Tori replied icily, "The only difference being, Mom and Dad were and still are attracted to each other!"

Before Erin could say anything else, Jessica spoke up, "Well, we always did enjoy competing with each other, didn't we?"

"Yeah, I remember you turning _everything_ we did into a competition!" Toby chuckled.

"You did too!" Jessica retorted before she, too, started laughing.

"So how many points did you get beaten by?" Erin asked curiously, attempting to stop Tori from giving her the _icy glare of doom._

"Let me guess," Tori said dryly before either of their parents could answer. "One, right?" Judging by the way they looked at one another completely stunned, she'd guessed right.

* * *

"And have I told you about the time your father got possessed by Obscurio?" Jessica asked some time later, ignoring Toby frantically shaking his head at her. They didn't need to hear about that!

"You got possessed by Obscurio?" Erin said, staring at her father in awe. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, I..." Toby started to say, trying to think of a way to explain what happened without embarrassing himself.

"He put on his crown after fighting Orrore!" Jessica interrupted. "Then he tried to get me to forfeit the competition we were having and had some random guys pelt me and your uncles with food when I refused!"

Toby rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that!" he said sheepishly.

Tori started clapping slowly. "Wow, Dad, please tell me you didn't put the crown on because a mysterious voice told you to? Because _anybody_ would know not to do that!"

At Toby's silence, Jessica and Erin started laughing while Tori merely smiled.

"Well, I, uh, well, _he_ managed to get me loads of tickets sold!" he said defensively.

"But you still lost!" Jessica pointed out in a sing-song voice.

"So did you, if you remember!" Toby retorted.

"Who _did_ win then if it wasn't either of you?" Erin questioned.

"Your Uncle Lucas," Jessica responded. "And the funniest part was that he kept the design _exactly_ the same so the hockey team bought all his tickets!"

"But what _wasn't_ so funny was that we had to do his chores for a week because we lost the bet!" Toby added.

Tori frowned slightly. "So the point of you telling us this is to teach us to pay attention to our competition and not just try to one-up your secret crush, right?" she asked. "Well, I won't be distracted by anything that trivial!"

"Denial!" Erin sang, only to flinch as Tori gave her the _glare_ again. "I-I mean, yeah, it's important to focus on all aspects of the competition!"

Their parents exchanged momentary glances before Jessica spoke, "Actually we just felt like sharing stories from when we were your age!"

"So there was no hidden meaning that we were supposed to extrapolate from those stories?" Tori said disbelievingly. "It wasn't supposed to have a moral at the end?"

"Not really, but you found one anyway!" Toby told her.


	41. February 13 - Forbid

_AN: Another AU featuring Madison and her obsession with Toby. I can honestly picture her doing something like this. Madison is very interesting to write about even if people hate her character! (If people hate her, I guess I'm doing a good job of writing her so far). By the way, they're intended to be 16 in this AU. Enjoy! It ends a bit abruptly so apologies about that!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1634_

* * *

Jessica didn't expect when she walked into school one morning to be pulled rather forcefully into an empty classroom. She looked up and saw the last person she wanted to see.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she asked wearily, "What do you want, Madison?"

Madison Verne, dressed in her usual outfit and wearing her usual glare, flicked her brunette hair and said in a snooty voice, "For you to stay away from my boyfriend!"

Jessica almost laughed. Though she'd seen Madison's social media profile before, it was still scary that Madison thought that Toby was even dating her or wanted to date her. "You don't _have_ a boyfriend!" she said, deadpan. Suddenly Madison's fingers gripped her arm so tightly, it was almost painful.

"Perhaps not," she said, giving her an almost scary smirk. "But let's face it, I'd be a better choice than a plain jane like _you!"_

Jessica looked down at these words, realizing that there was some truth to them. Though she didn't want to admit it, Madison wasn't unattractive and she wouldn't blame anyone who took a liking to her for that reason but her personality was just...ugh.

"He will be mine one day! Until then, stay away from him!" Madison declared angrily before finally loosening her grip on Jessica's arm and walking to the door. Before opening it and leaving the classroom, she said in a falsely sweet tone, "Have a nice day!"

Jessica stood in the classroom alone, feeling a lot of emotions but most of all, despair. She didn't know what Madison was capable of and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. On the other hand, she didn't want to give in to her enemy's demands.

Realizing that if she didn't move, she'd be late to class, she left the classroom and headed upstairs for the first lesson of the day.

* * *

Toby looked up as Jessica walked into the classroom, following Madison. There was a clear distance between the two girls. He frowned as, instead of taking her usual seat next to him, Jessica sat somewhere else. Was she mad at him? He couldn't remember doing or saying anything to make her mad.

He became even more confused when Madison sat down next to him, smiling like a cat who'd gotten its cream. "That's Jessica's seat," he pointed out.

Madison turned and smiled sweetly at him. "Not anymore. She won't be getting in the way of our love anymore - I've made sure of that," she told him, clear delight in her tone.

Toby inwardly groaned. The girl just didn't know how to take no for an answer! He had to find out what was going on. Before he could demand to know exactly what Madison meant, the teacher walked into the classroom to begin the lesson.

* * *

After the lesson, Jessica packed up her things and practically sprinted out of the classroom. Normally she'd wait for the others but she couldn't. Not anymore. She could hear Toby's voice calling after her so she forced herself to keep looking forward, to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

When she felt she was far enough away, she sat down on the floor, bringing her knees close to her chest. Today and any other day after was going to be awful. Why did Madison have it in for her?

She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes but she impatiently brushed them away. She wasn't going to cry over this. It wasn't like she was going to lose the first friend she'd ever had but she knew she would because he'd hate her by the end of the day.

The thought of this made her tears fall thick and fast. This time she didn't bother trying to wipe them away. She berated herself for it, telling herself she was weak for giving into Madison in the first place.

How was she going to keep this up? She would have to learn how to perfect her mask around everybody now. Even him.

* * *

Much to his disappointment, he hadn't been able to get close to Jessica to ask her why she was avoiding him. It didn't help that he had Madison the human limpet, closely scrutinizing his every move.

It wasn't until after school that he was able to finally make a successful attempt to talk to his friend. He first managed to get rid of Madison, who had alarmingly been talking about coming back to his house with him, by lying that his mom was sick and wasn't to be disturbed.

Once he was alone, he headed up the street until he spotted a lonely figure walking a few yards away, her head down. He jogged up the hidden path nearby, intending on cutting her off.

She was so distracted by her inner thoughts that she almost crashed into him. He watched her eyes widen before her legs tensed and she prepared to run. Reacting quickly, he grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around and pinned her up against the wall, his hands resting on either side of her.

"You've been avoiding me, Jess," he said, hurt in his voice. "I've been trying to work it out all day and I'm stumped. Care to shed some light?"

She remained silent, refusing to meet his gaze. "Okay, play the silent game. I'll just have to solve this through guessing," Toby declared. "This all started this morning when you were with..." Suddenly he looked at her and asked calmly, "What did Madison say to you?"

"Who said Madison had anything to do with it?" Jessica responded flatly before her eyes widened. Toby frowned at this. Of course Madison would have something to do with this.

"Did she...threaten you?" he asked gently. Jessica looked away from him, refusing to answer. "Jess, tell me!"

Finally she spoke in a quiet voice. "She said I was getting in the way of you two so she was going to forbid me from spending any time with you."

Incredulous, he asked, "And you agreed to that?" It didn't sound at all like something Jessica would agree to. Why would Madison even see Jessica as a threat anyway?

"She told me she'd make me suffer, that she'd take the one thing I cared about the most."

Toby was still confused and angry. His best friend had been threatened by an obsessed girl into staying away from him. None of it made any sense.

"Besides she's right. She'll make you a great girlfriend one day. Pretty? Thinks you're perfect? Isn't that the kind of girl most guys dream of? Who am I to get in the way of that?"

"What are you talking about?" he snapped. "I don't want Madison to be my girlfriend! I don't want someone who thinks I'm some flawless god!" All of a sudden, a piece of the puzzle falls into place. "She thinks you like me?"

Jessica looked down for a few moments before replying. "She doesn't think, Toby. She knows."

If his head had been hurting before, it was practically throbbing now. "W-Wait...you like me? And you told _Madison?"_

"I didn't _tell_ her!" she argued hotly. "Apparently I was very obvious about it...but no one was ever supposed to find out!"

"Not even me, huh?" Toby said bitterly. "It's okay, I get it."

He moved his hands away from the wall and turned to walk away when she exclaimed, "Wait, you've got this all wrong!" He turned to face her once more and she continued, "Well, it's like I said before - I'm not your type, am I? I'd be lucky to have even been _in_ a relationship by the time I leave school!"

He had heard enough. Stalking back towards her, he once more pinned her up against the wall before kissing her fiercely. After some hesitation on her part, he can feel her beginning to reciprocate and smiled into the kiss...

* * *

"You little...!" An unpleasantly high pitched screech echoed. Jessica pulled away in horror as Madison appeared from seemingly nowhere. She tried to move away from Toby but he had his arm firmly around her waist and he didn't seem too keen on letting go. "You just couldn't keep your hands to yourself, could you?" She raised her hand, preparing to bring it down but found herself unable to move.

Toby had grabbed her arm mid-swing. Jessica looked up at her friend and saw the anger in his eyes. She almost felt sorry for Madison but then she remembered everything she'd gone through because of the brunette and found it difficult to maintain sympathy for her.

"Look, I've tolerated your obsession with me for four years! Most people would have told you to get lost straight away but I felt sorry for you - I thought I could at least try to be friends with you. I could handle that but threatening my best friend? That's going too far! So listen to me - stay away from Jessica and stay away from me! Find somebody you _actually_ want to be with!"

Madison looked stunned. She probably hadn't expected _that._ She recovered quickly, though, glaring venomously at Jessica, hissing, "You'll pay!" before leaving.

"You were wrong by the way. _You're_ my type - always have been."

"B-But then that means..."

He looked at her softly. "I love you, Jess. No one can forbid you from being with me..."


	42. February 16 - Kill

_AN: Wow, this one is kind of dark! I have no idea where this AU of them being assassins came from but the lust at first sight was interesting to write, at least! Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1541_

* * *

"So you know the plan, right, rookie?"

Toby looked at the young woman beside him and nodded his head. He still couldn't believe how he'd managed to get himself into this mess.

He'd been kicked out of the house by his parents who were angry at him for not having a job or a relationship, both things his oh-so-perfect brother had managed to do.

Frustrated, he'd found himself wandering into the dodgy part of town and, before he knew what was happening, a man in a business suit had accosted him and taken him into a building nearby.

The next thing he knew, he was being offered an insane amount of money in return for his services. He hadn't realized what that meant until the same man pushed a gun across the table towards him.

"You want me to kill someone with this?" he had asked disbelievingly. "Seriously?"

"You catch on quickly," the man responded in a baritone voice. "We can offer you safety, security, support...a family. All the things your own family refuse to give you any longer. We just need one thing in return..."

He remembered eyeing the gun, seeing what looked like a silencer attached to it. "But feel free to refuse," the man continued. "Just know that if you do, you will not live to see tomorrow. We cannot risk you going to the police about this, after all."

* * *

Returning to the present day, he glanced at the woman beside him. She looked young and he found himself wondering just how she'd wound up working for the man who'd employed him.

"How old are you?" he asked curiously.

She didn't look at him as she responded, "Twenty two." So she was the same age as him and somehow she was working as an assassin?

He struggled to keep his eyes from trailing downward. His female companion was wearing a rather revealing outfit - one he figured was less for his benefit and more to grab the attention of the unlucky victim. That was the plan, at least. He wondered if that was how she killed her victims: seduced them to catch them off guard before mercilessly killing them.

"Hey, stay focused!" she snapped and he cursed silently when he realized he'd been caught staring. "Let's go over the plan again!"

They discussed their plan of action. Their victim always drank at the same bar every night. She would enter the bar and lower his guard before leading him outside. There, Toby, hidden on the roof of the building opposite, would dispatch him before they would dispose of his body and return to base.

He watched as the woman pulled out a sharp and deadly looking knife from her belt, clearly her preferred weapon of choice. "What's that for?" he asked nervously, swallowing hard.

"In case _you_ screw up," she replied before stopping. "We're here. This is where we separate."

"Good luck," he told her before walking away.

"It's you who'll need luck..." she muttered.

* * *

Jessica walked into the bar, rolling her eyes as the patrons, the majority of them drunk, started leering and wolf-whistling at her. She's more than used to it - she's been doing this job for a while. It's been her whole life. Her parents had trained her for it, at least until they'd disappeared.

She almost laughed at the way the rookie had looked when she'd caught him blatantly undressing her with his eyes. She knew she was attractive and she always used it to her full advantage.

He was good looking, though. She sincerely hoped he didn't screw up this one because a part of her wanted him to stick around. Besides he wouldn't look so good with one of her knives sticking out of his back.

She looked around discreetly until she spotted her target - a middle aged man with greasy, black hair. Swaying her hips a little more than was necessary, she made her way over to him.

"Room for one more?" she asked sweetly. She almost gagged when he turned around and his breath - tainted by the numerous beers he'd no doubt ingested - invaded her nostrils.

"I've got plenty o' room for _you_ , sweetheart!" he said loudly as she sat down.

 _Now for the next step of the plan_ , she thought to herself. What kind of example would she set to the rookie if she failed here?

She ordered another beer for him, knowing that it would take only one or two before he was blindly drunk. All the while, she flirted with him, laughing silently at how easy it was to seduce him. Men all fell flat at her feet eventually, drunk or not.

"No more," he protested after a third. "I don't feel so good!"

"Why don't we go get some air?" she suggested, touching his arm. "It might help you feel better!"

He was too drunk to argue, allowing her to pull him to his feet before leading him outside. Nobody noticed them leaving...

* * *

Toby laid on his stomach, gun in his gloved hands, waiting. It was something he'd never been very good at but he supposed he'd have to learn if he wanted to survive.

He kept his eyes firmly on the entrance to the bar, watching for any sign of his companion. He had only known her for a day, if that, but he found himself intrigued by her. He still didn't know much about her but he wanted to know more. He wanted to hear her story, if she'd tell it to him.

The door opened and he saw her walking out of the bar with the man he recognized from the photo he'd been given.

He almost felt sorry for the guy. For all he knew, he might not have even done anything wrong. But if he failed, Toby knew he'd be the one to die and he didn't want to die. Not yet.

The man attempted to kiss the woman but she neatly sidestepped. Probably a good thing, too, as the man hunched over and, presumably, started to vomit.

This was it. Toby took aim with the gun, his finger on the trigger. He felt like his whole body was shaking as he pulled it, firing a bullet straight into the back of the man's skull. He collapsed face-first on the ground. Toby had succeeded but he felt guilty and numb.

* * *

Jessica watched him approach her. He looked a little ill at the sight of the body lying face down beside her.

"Nice job," she told him as they began to move it out of sight. The river was the company's usual dumping ground so they headed in that direction. "You might just be a natural at this."

He looked up at her and incredulously said, " _Nice job?"_ He lowered his voice, adding, "I just killed somebody!"

"You removed another monster from the town," she corrected. "This man wasn't a good person."

"But..." he protested. "It feels so wrong! What if he had a family? Kids waiting for him to come home?"

She stiffened at the word momentarily. "Anyway," she said sweetly after the body was gone. "Don't you want your reward now?"

"My r-reward?" he stuttered as she began approaching him slowly. As soon as she was close enough, she wound her arms around his neck and crashed her lips onto his.

He didn't respond at first but once he did...well, Jessica couldn't remember the last time a guy had reciprocated and she'd actually enjoyed it. Most guys either wanted total control or were too intimidated by her to attempt to fight for it. He was neither and she loved it.

"I usually work alone," she said breathlessly when they had to come up for air. "But I think this could be the start of a beautiful partnership, Toby. What do you say?"

He looked at her and she could see that he was tempted but there was still a flicker of doubt in his eyes. She smirked and kissed him again, only for him to pull away momentarily.

"You know my name," he gasped out as she attempted to resume their make-out session. "But you never told me yours."

"It's Jessica," she responded, realizing that she _hadn't_ actually told him her name. "So do you want to be my partner or not?"

Once again, she looked into his eyes, searching for the doubt that had been hidden there but it was gone. She could see the lust in his gaze, though, and knew that he was entirely at her mercy, whether he wanted to be or not.

"I look forward to working with you, _partner,"_ he said, surprisingly confident. She smiled, knowing she'd made the right call. The villains and monsters of this town wouldn't know what hit them.

"It does get easier," she assured him. "Believe me, I know. I've been doing this a lot longer than you."

She offered her hand to him. "Let's go home."


	43. February 17 - Aftermath

_AN: Okay, so this is an AU set during Season 2 where Toby and Jessica are accused of being in a relationship even when they're still just friends and they have to deal with the fallout of a certain rumour. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1043_

* * *

When Toby and Jessica walked into the classroom one Friday, they didn't expect their classmates to start whispering to one another. Having no idea what they could possibly be talking about, they simply took their seats just before the teacher arrived to begin the lesson.

It seemed the day was going to get even more unbearable from there. Everybody seemed to stare at them or whisper to their friends and neither of them knew _why._

When they left the classroom after their third lesson of the day, Jessica murmured, "I'm seriously considering taking the rest of the day off! At least I could get away from all the staring!"

"Me too!" Toby agreed, knowing that she hated the attention. He pulled her into a hug, feeling her rest her head on his shoulder.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves! How could you do that to poor Madison?" They looked up to see Lisa Shepherd glaring in disgust at them before turning and walking away.

The two friends looked at one another, a shiver going through their bodies at the mention of Madison's name. If she was involved, then it couldn't be anything good.

"You know something? We _are_ gonna take the rest of the day off! We have some investigating to do!" Jessica declared before linking arms with Toby and heading through the school until they reached the main entrance.

Though Jessica had been told she could go home if she needed to because of the incident, Toby was a little more difficult. Thankfully, using the charm and acting skills he didn't know he possessed, he was able to successfully convince the receptionist that he was genuinely feeling unwell and she eventually gave him permission to go home, with the wish that he get better soon.

* * *

"She's lost it..." Toby said fearfully as he and Jessica gazed at Madison's social media profile. "She's officially lost it."

According to the description, he and Madison had been dating for the past year. He honestly didn't know whether he should feel scared or if he should feel sorry for her.

Scrolling down the page, however, any sympathy he had for the girl vanished in an instant when he saw a post encouraging people to hate on Jessica. He looked at his friend and watched her solemn expression drop as they read through the comments, mainly caused by the kind of people who enjoyed causing drama and didn't care who got hurt in the process.

"I'm okay..." she said shakily as he looked at her. "I'm fine. Really."

"Well, I'm not," Toby said angrily. "How can...why..." He was so furious, confused and scared that he couldn't even put it into words. Why would _anyone_ believe he was dating Madison Verne?

He scrolled back up, having seen and read enough when Jessica suddenly stopped him. "Wait, is that...us?" Toby stopped and looked at the post she was referring to which had been submitted yesterday.

It was a picture of him hugging Jessica who had gotten a little emotional after something unexpected and unwanted had happened to her. The caption read ' _To think my boyfriend is cheating with **her** of all people' _.

"So, uh, people think you're cheating on Madison with me?" Jessica said quietly.

"Apparently," Toby responded. He was worried about what all this would do to her. What if this brought back bad memories of her mom?

"You wouldn't ever date me, though, would you?" She said it as though it was an absolute certainty and it honestly hurt him to hear her talk in that kind of tone, the tone that sounded as though she didn't think she was good enough for anyone.

Toby frowned at this. He'd had a crush on her for a while but he wasn't ready to confess his feelings for her, not yet. But he didn't want her to feel as though she'd never be good enough. He cursed the fact that he and Jessica were having to deal with the aftermath of Madison's lies. They didn't deserve it, Jessica especially. She didn't deserve any pain.

"Look, Jess," he began, not entirely sure how he wants to word what he's about to say. "You know I'd never date Madison in a million years. I'd rather date you any day. But I wouldn't - not because you're not good enough - because I'm just not ready for all that, yet. Any guy would be the luckiest guy on earth to date a girl like you. I know that's how I'd feel."

Jessica smiled slightly. He always knew what to say to make her feel better. Sometimes she wished he saw her as more than just his best friend. She didn't want to be anyone else's girlfriend but if she was being completely honest, she wasn't ready yet either.

"So you really wouldn't date Madison?" she asked, looking at him.

"Absolutely not," he said firmly. An idea came to him suddenly. "Tell you what? How about we make a promise that we'll be each other's first significant other?"

Jessica looked up at him, surprised at this suggestion. He'd basically just said that he wanted to be her first boyfriend! Did that mean he actually liked her? No, he probably didn't. She was just his friend...right?

Toby had to resist the urge to hit himself. Why in the world did he have to say that? She was bound to realize his feelings for her now! But he couldn't deny that the idea of knowing she would be his first girlfriend some day in the future made him happier than he could describe.

"So, um, what do you say?" he asked, his mouth feeling dry. He realized he was nervous to hear her answer.

"I say..." Jessica looked at the screen and then to the visibly shaking boy next to her. Finally she responded, "Yes."

She moved the cursor and clicked the exit button on the webpage which disappeared immediately.

They weren't going to let Madison's lies bother them anymore.


	44. February 20 - Argument

_AN: Okay, so this oneshot features my male OC who will debut in ROTLON some time in Season 2. This is an AU, by the way, but I kind of like the idea of Toby and Gina bonding over their experience of liking someone who's dense and oblivious to their feelings._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1492_

* * *

She smiled as she picked up her phone off her bedside cabinet. The text she had just received from her boyfriend, Nate, read:

 _"Can't wait to see you at school, today, babe!"_

Her grin widening, she typed out a reply:

" _Me neither!"_

Today she would be telling her friends about their relationship. She and Nate had been dating for two weeks and, since her friends were very important to her, she felt that they should be the first to know about it.

She didn't know how they'd react but she hoped they'd be happy for her, at least. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

He didn't know why but the moment he saw her walking toward him and his companions that morning, a stupidly wide grin on her face, he just knew he was going to have a _really_ bad day.

"Guys, there's something I need to tell you," she said. He noticed that she sounded nervous, her voice seemed to shake. Was she sick? Was someone in her family sick?

As his mind came up with endless possibilities, he barely heard the words that next formed on her lips. But, at the same time, they were all he could hear.

"I have a boyfriend - Nate Roberts. We've been dating for two weeks."

He stood up, her voice still ringing in his head. Without saying a word or acknowledging her at all, he left.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't listen to her talk about her boyfriend, especially when her boyfriend wasn't... no, he was over that. Yet, if he _was_ over her, he wouldn't mind her being with someone else. But then, he does mind her being with a self-obsessed jerk like Nate Roberts. She could have dated anyone else in the school, even his own brother - who didn't swing that way - and he wouldn't have cared.

Perhaps that was why he had left. He couldn't stand the sight of her making the biggest mistake of her life. It had nothing at all to do with him wanting her to be with him instead.

Nothing whatsoever.

* * *

She was confused. All day long, her best friend had been avoiding her and she couldn't think of any reason _why._

She'd personally introduced Nate to them and he'd simply nodded before leaving. She didn't know what to make of it. Did he have a problem with Nate?

At lunch, she decided she couldn't let it go. She had to confront him about the way he'd been acting, if only to answer all the questions in her head.

"So how come you haven't been talking to me?" she asked casually, watching him look up at her.

"You're smart," he responded, almost emotionless. "Or, at least, I _thought_ you were. _You_ work it out."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she demanded. She didn't know what he was insinuating but she didn't like it.

He stood up abruptly. "You're dating quite possibly the _worst_ person on the planet and you wonder why I have a problem with it?" he yelled.

"How dare you?" she yelled right back, also standing up. "Nate might have done some bad things in the past but he's a good boyfriend! He loves me and...and I love him!"

She was almost disturbed by the blank look on his face. "He loves you?" he said disbelievingly. "If you really believe that, you're _really_ not as smart as I thought you were! Nate Roberts will do to you what he's done to every other girl he's dated! Take what he wants from you and then cast you aside when he's bored of you, like the jerk he is!"

"You don't _know_ that! He's changed! He isn't like that anymore!" He started walking away and she yelled after him, "Where are you going?"

He looked back but didn't stop moving. "If you really believe he's changed, there's nothing I can do or say to convince you otherwise. But I'm not staying when I know he's just going to break your heart. Good luck. You're going to need it."

She slammed her fist against the table. How could he say that? He didn't know anything about it! He didn't know what it was like to love someone the way she loved Nate. He'd never understand!

* * *

He walked down the corridor, his mood sour. They'd bickered a lot but this was the first time they'd ever argued. Why did she have to be so stubborn, so... so naive?

After finding an empty classroom, he sat down to be alone with his thoughts.

 _"He loves me and...and I love him!"_

That line had hurt more than anything else. How could she love a guy like Nate? How could she be so blind to what he was really like?

He stood up and punched the wall a couple of times until the pain forced him to stop.

"I guess you didn't take the news well either?"

He looked around and saw Gina standing in the doorway, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Look, I don't need a lecture," he said abruptly, sitting down. "If she sent you to try and convince me that Nate's a saint..."

"Well, she tried," the dark haired girl shrugged as she joined him in the classroom. "Until I told her I agreed with you. Then she started yelling at me."

"Wait," he interrupted. "You agreed with me?" That didn't make sense. They were as close as sisters. Why would Gina take his side?

"How long have you been in love with her?"

He nearly fell over. "What?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. "How did... wait, what?"

She gave him an unimpressed look. "Look, I've had feelings for Mr. Dense-and-Oblivious for about ten years. You don't think I'd be able to recognize the signs in other people?"

He almost laughed at her nickname for Lucas. It was pretty accurate. "Since I was, well I don't know. I think I've liked her for a while, maybe a long while but she just doesn't seem to notice!"

"Well, personally I think you'd make her a much better boyfriend than Nate Roberts!" was her response. "You're not a massive jerk for one thing!"

This time he did laugh. It was nice to know he wasn't alone in his misgivings about the relationship and that he wasn't the only one who experienced having feelings for someone who didn't notice them.

* * *

This was honestly weird. She had thought that everyone would accept her relationship with Nate but instead her two best friends had gotten mad at her and her other friends just seemed indifferent about it. She'd never felt so alone.

What was weirder is that Gina, who was like a sister to her, seemed to have formed a sibling-like bond with her best friend. She didn't understand it at all. Had they bonded over their mutual hate of her boyfriend? She saw them hanging out with the others, laughing and joking just like she used to do with them.

Well, she didn't need them! If they couldn't accept who she was dating, maybe it was time they went their separate ways.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. "You okay, babe?" Nate's voice sounded in her ear.

"Yeah," she said. "My friends aren't too happy about this...us. They're just being so...so..." She didn't finish her sentence. She was way too angry.

"They're just jealous," Nate told her. "They're too immature to handle the fact that you like me and I like you. They don't want to accept that I'm not the same guy I was once."

"But I know you've changed," she responded, her voice muffled as her boyfriend turned her around and hugged her tightly. "You're a good person now. And you're the most good-looking person in this school. You're so popular and amazing!"

"I know I am," Nate said, as he smirked. "Nobody compares to me, do they? I'm the only one who matters." She looked up at him and smiled, a blush on her face.

Nate knew how to get girls under his spell. He'd mastered the art of charm before he'd hit double digits. It wasn't his fault they were stupid enough to believe that he actually cared for them.

She was just like all the others, a plaything. And when he was bored, that would be it. But, for now, Nate would endure her calling him her boyfriend until he ended it.


	45. February 22 - Rifle

_AN: So this is another part to that assassins AU I wrote. Hope you enjoy it. In case it isn't clear, I have zero knowledge on weapons of any kind._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _657_

* * *

Toby opened the box his on-again/off-again lover was holding and gave her a questioning look. "A rifle?"

"A gift," she shrugged. "That gun of yours was getting old." He had to agree with that. Despite the fact he had been taking good care of it, he had been worried that his gun - now seven years old - would misfire.

He looked down at it again. "Must have been expensive. This is a sniper's rifle, isn't it?" He could see the scope and the silencer. He smiled, knowing it was thoughtful of her to look out for his safety. That was what they did, what they had been doing for the past seven years. They were partners and they would _always_ have each other's backs.

"It'll make dispatching much easier for you," she responded. "Speaking of which..."

He held out his hand as she dug around in her pockets before placing a photo in his hand. Upon looking at it, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time wash over him.

Worry.

 _This_ _wasn't happening._

* * *

Jessica watched her partner's face carefully as he examined the photo. His eyes had widened and his face had paled.

"You know this guy?" she asked.

"I...I..." he stuttered. He definitely knew him. It was just too obvious

She took the photo out of his hands and looked at it herself. The man was in his late twenties with brown hair and eyes, wearing glasses and a smart business suit.

"Why is he a target?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" she responded coolly.

* * *

Toby lowered his head. Did he admit to her that he knew the man in the photo? She probably knew that he knew already.

Despite everything, he didn't hate that man. Even though he was the reason he didn't have his old home, his old family.

He sighed. For their partnership to work, they had to be honest. "Because...because he's my brother," he admitted. "That's why."

She frowned. "You don't look like him."

"Yeah, people said that to us a lot. I don't act like him either." He didn't know if he was imagining it but he could hear the loathing in his voice and he hated himself for it. How could he hate his own brother?

"You know you'll have to..." she began, worry in her gaze. It was hard enough to end the life of a stranger. She wasn't sure he'd be able to handle doing the same to his brother, even if they had been estranged for years.

"Can't I just talk to him?" he suggested. "Or talk to the boss?"

"You're sure you _want_ to talk to him?" she asked, referring to his first question.

"No," he replied honestly. "But I don't want to have to kill him either. Not unless I know why."

* * *

Jessica was scared. Seven years and they'd never failed. If he refused this job, _both_ of their lives would be on the line.

"You can't talk to the boss," she decided. "If he finds out that our target is your brother, he'll make sure you're the one who ends him."

Her partner gave her a questioning look. "If he has to die, I'll do it," she explained. "That way, you won't have to worry about him finding out about you."

"You'd do that?" he asked. The past seven years had really changed him. "For me?"

"No," she whispered, moving closer to him until her lips were barely brushing his. "For us." Once more, like so many other times, they kissed to distract themselves from how messed up their lives had become.

They broke apart and she heard him say as clear as day, "I love you."

 _He couldn't... why would he?_

"I love you too."


	46. February 24 - Bleach

_AN: Okay, so this one's kinda connected to the Death oneshot I wrote. It took me a while to figure out what to write for this word but eventually I managed to come up with something. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _501_

* * *

"You hate this smell too, don't you?"

Toby rubbed his thumb over the back of his girlfriend's hand as his eyes roamed over the pristine white walls. She couldn't answer him but he knew she'd agree. She hated this place as much as he did. If she were awake, she'd have run for the hills by now.

"I'm sorry," he almost whispered. "I should have realized something was wrong. If I had, maybe you wouldn't be here!"

The only sound in the small room was the steady beeping from the machine monitoring her heart rate. He knew deep down that he couldn't have known that she was so sick but it wasn't enough to stop him from blaming himself, from apologizing each and every time he visited her.

Toby wrinkled his nose as he shifted slightly on his chair and the scent of bleach threatened to overwhelm his senses. It made him feel ill, almost to the point where he thought he'd have to leave the room and go to the toilet.

"I know you don't like this place, either," he told her as his eyes watered. "But hopefully we won't be here much longer. Don't rush, though. You need time to heal."

The door opened and the nurse walked in, presumably to check over the machines and make sure everything was in working order. He stayed quiet, letting her get on with it when she asked, "Are you alright? You don't look so well."

He almost laughed. He'd barely slept a wink since Jessica had been admitted and the smell of the bleach wasn't helping matters. So, no, he probably _didn't_ look so well. "I-I guess so," he responded, cursing his voice for shaking as a wave of nausea washed over him.

"The smell is getting to you, hmm?" the nurse said as she began checking the tubing and wires attached from the machine to her patient. "I've been working here so long that I barely notice it anymore."

Toby blinked in surprise, not sure if it would be rude for him to say that he really hated hospitals. "It's not just the smell," he admitted after a while. "My granddad, he was diagnosed with cancer years ago. He always swore he'd never let it beat him but the last weeks of his life, he got really sick. So sick he had to be admitted to hospital. I remember visiting him with my parents and brother. At first, he was really cheerful, joking, even. He kept saying he'd be out of there before we knew it but he deteriorated quickly. He died after about a week in hospital. I was eight."

The nurse looked at him, a sympathetic look in her eyes, as he continued, "And I know she's not that sick. But I lost someone and I'm not sure I can go through it again."


	47. February 25 - Death

_AN: Wow, I cannot apologize enough for how late these all are! This one's a sad one, I'm afraid to say, but I hope you enjoy it._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _311_

* * *

The four friends arrived home from school one day in the second grade to find Mrs Tripp sitting in the chair crying while Mr Tripp looked unusually downcast.

"Mom," Nick said, concerned. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Mr Tripp heaved a sigh, glancing at his wife who remained silent. "It's your gramps..." he said, wondering how he was supposed to break the news to them. Finally he looked up at his two sons and their friends and told them, "He...he isn't with us anymore."

Toby took a step backwards, shaking his head. "No," he muttered. He then yelled, "It can't be true! You're lying!" He turned and ran through the open door.

"Toby!" Mrs Tripp called out, speaking for the first time, but the blonde had already left. She burst into tears once again so Nick walked forward to hug her.

Mr Tripp quietly said he was going to make something to eat and Lucas volunteered to help, the two of them heading into the kitchen. Jessica stood alone, wondering what she could do when it came to her. Giving a sympathetic look to Mrs Tripp and Nick, she left the room and headed upstairs.

* * *

Toby rifled through his bedroom, looking through everything he owned. Tears ran down his face and, though he wiped them away, they continued to fall. It wasn't fair!

As he finally found what he was looking for, there came a gentle knock at the door. He looked up to see his best friend standing there, a look of sympathy in her eyes.

For a moment, they stood completely still. Then she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't say anything and he was grateful. He didn't know what he wanted to hear so he just hugged her back and cried unashamedly. She wouldn't judge him...


	48. February 26 - Secure

_AN: I meant to upload this yesterday but my head had other plans. Stupid migraines - if you've ever had one, I sympathise because they are just awful. Anyway I hope you enjoy this one._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _175_

* * *

It seemed strange, putting all of your trust in one person. Telling them all your secrets. Leaving your life in their hands.

But, for Jessica, it made perfect sense, because she trusted him with everything she was. She always had and she always would. It was as simple as that.

Though the years had gone by, being with him still gave her a sense of security she thought she'd never have.

She wasn't the only one who felt that way either. Toby had noticed that, despite their differences - and there were many! - she had stuck around.

It made him feel secure in the knowledge that, no matter how bad the arguments between them got, she would never leave. And neither would he.

They both seemed like the type of people who enjoyed _living on the edge_ , Toby especially, but at the end of the day, they wanted - no, needed - to feel safe too. Was it really their fault that they felt safest with each other?

Perhaps security came from a bond of trust.


	49. February 27 - North

_AN: Well, I hope you enjoy this one. Some of these will be a bit weird but you gotta work with what you have. The song mentioned is Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _288_

* * *

When a person is lost, they lose all sense of direction. They don't know which way to go. They could have been heading the right way the whole time but panic makes them second-guess everything.

But if they have a compass, they needn't panic. The needle of a compass always points north. As long a person is aware of that, they can always find their way.

Sometimes a person can be emotionally lost. What use would a compass be then?

* * *

They didn't know why but they each thought of the other as a compass. Any time their emotions left them feeling lost and confused, all they'd have to do was look at their significant other (in other words, each other) and they'd find their way.

It was as though the needle that always pointed north pointed in the direction of the person they trusted more than they trusted themselves.

How this had happened, neither of them really knew. Their feelings had developed over the years and they found themselves being drawn to each other, not quite able to help themselves.

* * *

The girl danced around his living room while the radio played, the boy watching her with a fond smile on his face. She never failed to make him happy with her overwhelming optimism and sunny disposition.

A new song started and the girl let out an excited gasp before joining in, all the while approaching her partner with a enticing smile, her eyes locking onto his and not looking away.

The boy gulped. He hated hearing himself sing but he couldn't resist his girl for long. He wished he could look away but her voice, movements, everything about her entranced him.


	50. February 28 - Reaction

_AN: I guess this one could be a part of the love-hate AU (you know the one I mean). Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's_** _note):_ _848_

* * *

He hadn't pulled that prank on her the first day of school just to be malicious. He'd simply seen her sitting with her friends and decided he wanted her attention - at the time he hadn't known why - so she was going to become the victim of his first school prank.

When lunch ended, he waited gleefully for her to open the classroom door. As soon as she did, the bucket balanced on the top fell, covering her in slime. She cried out in dismay as everyone around her started laughing. He laughed the loudest and she noticed, marching over to him and demanding to know if he'd done it.

Not about to let someone else take the credit, he nodded gleefully as she began yelling about how dumb and mean that was. He continued grinning even as the teacher showed up, scolded him and led the girl away to get a change of clothes.

He wanted a reaction and he got one. But now he wanted more...

* * *

Over the years, he would pull more and more pranks on her. And every time, she would react beautifully - getting angry, all up in his face, her attention solely on him. He couldn't get enough of it.

He'd realized he had a crush on her when he was about ten. He couldn't pinpoint exactly how but perhaps it was the time she'd stormed past him after he'd glued the pages of her exercise book together and his heart hadn't stopped pounding.

Six years later, he was still crushing on her. It was so hopelessly obvious that he liked her that everyone in the class - no, the school - had noticed. Everyone except the one person he wanted to notice.

Was he doing something wrong? Did she not like him back? Maybe she really didn't like being pranked all the time?

He thought about it for a while. He enjoyed the reactions he got from her after a prank but perhaps he could enjoy other reactions by changing the way he acted around her.

* * *

He was being strangely nice. After years of him constantly pranking her, she couldn't help but find it suspicious. When she dropped something, he'd rush to pick it up for her. He'd hold open doors for her even if her hands were empty. He'd smile at her every time he saw her.

A part of her couldn't help but feel disappointed. Though she found him annoying, his constant pranks meant that he only paid attention to her. But now he treated her like any other person and it hurt. Worse, she didn't know _why._

"Why are you being so weird?" she decided to ask him as they were leaving History class one morning to go to lunch. He'd gone to hold the door open for her as usual. "I mean you spend eleven years annoying me with your stupid pranks and then, all of a sudden, you just stop. Then, out of nowhere, you suddenly start being nice to me - I don't understand you at all!"

"Is it really that hard to imagine that I could be nice to you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Look," she snapped, glaring at him. "I'm not stupid, okay? So stop pretending to be nice. We both know you hate me!"

She found herself recoiling when he fixed her with an intense glare. When he spoke, she could feel the frustration flowing off him in waves. "First I prank you all the time so I have your attention! Then I try being nice to you when I realize that being pranked all the time won't make you react in a good way!" He approached her until he was so close she could see the shades of blue in his eyes. "What else do I have to do to get you to realize I like you?"

Before she could react to this revelation, he stepped away from her and practically ran through the doors. She remained in the same spot, thinking his words over.

It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.

* * *

"Toby likes me?" she asked as she joined her friends at their table in the cafeteria. She needed some confirmation that it wasn't just something he'd blurted out in the heat of the moment and hadn't actually meant it.

Nick, Lucas and Gina exchanged glances before the latter said dryly, "Well, duh, everyone here's known that Toby's had the hots for you for the past six years!"

"The past six..." How had she not noticed that? She slumped her head against the table before arguing, "But he can't like me! All he does - or, well, _did -_ is pull pranks on me!"

"Yeah, because when a guy likes a girl, they tease them because they want their attention and enjoy the reactions they get," Nick told her, having observed plenty of examples over the years.

Unable to believe it, she noticed her heart pounding away...


	51. March 3 - Edited

_AN: This oneshot takes place after the judo tournament in Tidal Wave Goodbye, maybe a year or so after? It ended kind of weirdly - I didn't realize I'd slightly gone over the limit so I had to change some things. Well, anyway, enjoy!_

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):**_ _366_

* * *

"Look at this!" Jessica fumed, slamming down some paper on the table.

Nick and Lucas exchanged looks as Toby warily picked up the paper. On it was a photo and some writing.

 _'Local kids win at judo competition!'_

"Wait, isn't that the competition you and Toby won?" Lucas asked as Toby read the article to himself.

Jessica nodded. "Well?" she demanded when Toby had finished reading. "Notice anything?"

"Not in the article, no.." Toby responded. "Hey, wait..." He peered closely at the photo and frowned. "You're not in the picture!" he realized.

"What?" Nick and Lucas exclaimed, getting up to look at the photo themselves. Indeed Toby was right. Though Toby was in the photo, there was no sign of Jessica at all.

"But you were right next to me when the photo was taken!" Toby said, confused, as he looked over at Jessica. "I don't understand."

Jessica picked up the paper again. The boys watched the miserable look on her face be replaced by a look of rage. "I might have known! Guess who wrote and edited the article?"

"I think I know..." Toby muttered. There was only one person who could make Jessica as angry as she was currently. He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, we all know that you won too," he told her. "And you didn't hear this from me but you were pretty awesome, no matter what Madison Verne might think."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "So you finally admit that I'm better at judo than you?"

Toby waved his hands around. "I didn't say you were _better,_ I said you were good!" he protested.

His indignation caused Jessica to laugh slightly. She felt better about the article, that was until Nick spoke.

"Wow, Jess doesn't even get mentioned by name!"

Immediately the girl's mood soured and Toby resisted the urge to yell at his brother. He'd _just_ managed to get her to laugh and now she was going to be in a worse mood than before!

Lucas asked suddenly, "Why isn't Jessica in the article? Does Madison think Toby's more important somehow?"

Everybody else face-palmed.


	52. March 6 - Teeth

_AN: This one is kind of weird, I know. Anyone else still afraid of going to the dentist? I feel incredibly sick each time I go. I enjoy the oneshots that feature Tori and Erin - it's kind of fun to write about them. Well, it's fun writing about everyone in general. Enjoy, anyway._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1872_

* * *

Toby walked around the house with a purpose. "Okay, if I were a five year old girl, where would I hide?" he muttered to himself.

The family were supposed to be on their way to the dentist so the girls could have a checkup. However when he and Jessica had gone to get them ready, Tori was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn't their first visit to the dentist but Tori still seemed to get incredibly anxious about going, unlike Erin who had never once been fazed by it.

Toby walked into the nursery and looked underneath the covers on the bed. No sign. Perhaps she was under the bed - it seemed to be her favourite hiding spot after all.

He knelt down and peered under the bed. "There you are!" he said, seeing his little girl curled up on the floor. "What are you doing under here?"

She didn't reply. Upon closer inspection, Toby noticed his daughter was visibly shaking and hyperventilating. All the signs that she was having a panic attack.

Having both witnessed and experienced a panic attack himself, he knew how scary they could be, especially for a child. And it wasn't the first time she'd suffered from a panic attack, either.

He recalled that the main priority was to calm the person's breathing. "Tori," he said carefully. "Remember what we taught you?" Tori looked up at him, still breathing far too fast and nodded her head shakily.

Toby watched as his daughter attempted to slow her breath, a frown on her face as she silently counted. After about five minutes, her breathing had returned to normal and the ordeal was over...for now.

"Do you want a hug?" he asked and Tori nodded once again. "Come on out, then."

They emerged from under the bed. Toby sat down and cuddled his daughter close to him. "What were you doing under there, rosebud?" he asked, rocking her gently.

When she didn't respond, he smiled sadly. Tori had recently been diagnosed with selective mutism which meant that, at times, she wouldn't say a single word. It tended to flare up when she was feeling scared and anxious about something, like she was now.

They hadn't noticed at first because Tori had always been a quiet child at the best of times. On her first day at school, despite having told the staff about what could happen, the teacher for Tori's class had gotten angry and started shouting at her when she apparently ignored him calling her name for the register. Things had gotten so bad that the school had actually called their house phone and asked for one of them to take her home.

It had taken a week for them to persuade her to return to school. In that time, she hadn't spoken a single word. It was the longest time she'd gone without speaking, to date. The teacher had been fired and replaced with a woman who had a degree in both teaching and child psychology. The school had also hired a therapist, who just happened to be the new teacher's sister-in-law. Tori saw her twice a week, sometimes more.

"Were you hiding because you didn't want to go see the dentist?" Toby asked. The answer was already obvious as Tori nodded. "You know, when I was your age, I was afraid of seeing the dentist, too. In fact, I used to hide under the bed too when I didn't want to go."

Tori tilted her head to the side curiously, giving him a _Really?_ look. She couldn't believe her daddy could ever be scared of anything.

"That's right," Toby continued, seeing his daughter's disbelieving look. "Then one day I realized it really wasn't as scary as I thought it was. I just kept telling myself not to think about how scared I was and think about something else instead."

Tori clung to him tightly, thinking about it. If she didn't focus on how scary it was, would she be able to get through it? She looked up and nodded before standing up and turning to face Toby who was almost taken aback by the look of determination on her face.

She was definitely brave. "You ready, rosebud?" he asked his little girl who nodded. "Alright, then, let's go."

They headed outside to the car where Jessica and Erin were waiting.

"Tori!" Jessica exclaimed in relief after her daughter had gotten in the car. "Are you alright?" Tori quietly nodded.

"Are we going now?" Erin asked, slightly impatient.

"Yeah, we are, fire monkey!" Toby chuckled as Erin cheered.

"Yay! We're going to see the tooth lady!"

* * *

"Okay, then, who'd like to go first?" Mrs Wilkinson, a motherly woman in her forties asked. She specialized in dealing with children who didn't particularly enjoy dentist visits which made her the perfect choice for the family.

Tori darted behind Toby, not wanting to go first. She peeked out, eyeing the chair with fear. She wished she didn't have to come here.

"Me! Me! I do!" Erin said, jumping up and down excitedly, auburn curls bouncing. She practically ran to the chair and sat down, wiggling her feet as Mrs Wilkinson maneuvered the chair so she could see inside the girl's mouth and began the checkup.

Tori hoped the checkup would take a long time so the dentist wouldn't have the time to check her teeth. Unfortunately it didn't seem things were going to go her way.

"That's you finished, dear!" Mrs Wilkinson said as Erin hopped down from the chair and skipped back over to her parents. "Okay, Tori, now it's your turn."

Tori nearly jumped. She wasn't ready! She looked around at her parents who both nodded and smiled encouragingly.

"It's not scary, sis!" Erin piped up in an attempt to be helpful. "You'll be fine!"

The blonde girl looked at the chair, fear flooding her body, before setting a frown of determination on her face and beginning to walk towards it. Each step felt like she was walking closer to her impending doom but eventually she reached the chair and hesitantly sat down.

 _Don't think about it... Don't think about it..._ she intoned in her head over and over as she opened her mouth as wide as she was able to before shutting her eyes.

As the time passed, she imagined herself living in an igloo. She'd always liked snow and ice but she didn't know why. She pictured her neighbors being a family of snow people.

"Alright, your checkup's over now!" she heard Mrs Wilkinson say. Wait, it was over already? She opened her eyes and hopped down from the chair.

"Thank you," she said shyly, speaking for the first time that day. Her voice was so quiet that it was often hard to hear it.

"You're welcome," Mrs Wilkinson responded warmly. "Now the both of you get to choose a sticker."

Tori peered at the stickers and quietly chose one, nodding her thanks. Erin took a little longer to decide but thankfully picked one in the end.

"They'll need another checkup in six months time," Mrs Wilkinson said as the family were leaving.

* * *

"You're not telling me you're still scared of going to the dentist?" Erin asked her older sister exasperatedly as she attempted to brush the knots out of her wavy hair.

Tori merely shrugged in response. Though she was now thirteen, the visits to the dentist still filled her with dread. It wasn't like she didn't know that there wasn't anything to be afraid of, that her fear was irrational, but she often found herself wishing she could revert back to her childhood strategy of hiding somewhere and pretending she'd forgotten she had to go in the first place.

She was too old for that strategy to work now, though. She found herself glancing at Erin, wondering how it felt to not be afraid to see the dentist.

"I don't understand you sometimes, sis. I mean you literally have perfect teeth and you're terrified of going. My teeth are all wonky and I'm just fine about going!" Erin said, struggling with a patch of hair that was particularly tangled.

Tori stood up and held her hand out for the brush. Erin handed it over and winced slightly as her sister worked to untangle the massive clump of hair.

"If you must know, I don't know exactly why I don't like going. I know I don't like how overcrowded my mouth feels when they're working..." Tori mused.

"Yeah, I know what you mean!" Erin exclaimed, before squeaking slightly. "I hate that feeling too! Last time we went, you sounded like you were choking!"

"Believe me, I felt like I was choking. My gag reflex can't handle all that, you know," Tori said as she finally brushed the knot out.

"Thanks," Erin said gratefully as she looked in the mirror to check that her hair was semi-presentable. "Just think - your checkup will be done in about five minutes, ten at the most. I've got to sit in that chair for twenty minutes at least!"

"Kind of makes me glad I'm not getting braces as well!" Tori stated matter-of-factly and the two girls started laughing as their father walked in.

"You ready, girls?" he asked, looking between them.

"Yep!" Erin said cheerfully, popping the 'p' as she put her jacket on.

Tori frowned slightly. "As ready as I'll ever be..." she mumbled and felt her father's hand pat her head.

"It'll be over before you know it, rose bud," he told her comfortingly.

As they all walked outside, Erin asked in a mock indignant tone, "Hey, Dad, how come Tori gets to be 'rose bud' and I have to be 'fire monkey'?" As an afterthought, she added, "And please don't say it's because of the hair!"

Toby chuckled slightly. "Well, when you were younger, you'd climb - or at least try to - anything you could, no matter what your mom and I did to try to stop you. And, as for the fire part, that came after you tried to cook and set the kitchen on fire."

"Okay, then," Erin said. "But you still haven't said why Tori's 'rose bud' yet," she pointed out as they got in the car and started to drive away.

"Well, she was quiet pretty much from the day she was born but I could tell she had unsung potential. Maybe it can't be seen yet but someday it will, like a budding rose coming into full bloom," Toby explained as best he could.

Erin nodded. It made sense to her now. She always thought Tori was much better at everything than she gave herself credit for.

Tori was deep in thought, meanwhile. She had unsung potential? Yeah, right. Since when? She was thirteen and she was still scared of going to the dentist!


	53. March 9 - Angel

_AN: This one's an AU where Jessica is able to grow wings while in human form. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1563_

* * *

Jessica rubbed her back, still wondering what the curious sensation she could feel was. It had started on the coach on the way back to school from the field trip Mrs Gulinder had taken her class on that day.

It was more irritating than anything, though it was slightly painful as well. She had no idea what could be causing it. Perhaps she was coming down with something but she didn't feel ill.

As soon as she, along with Toby and Nick, had arrived home, they had been greeted before being told to wait for tea. She always enjoyed Mrs Tripp's cooking and today was no exception as she tucked into some lasagna.

When she finished, she took her empty plate and cutlery into the kitchen and rinsed them before turning to Mrs Tripp and asking, "Would it be alright if I went and took a nap? I'm feeling a little tired." The truth was, the strange sensation on her back was getting worse. She wanted some privacy to investigate what was going on. What if it was something serious?

"Yes, of course," Mrs Tripp responded. "Are you sure you're alright, though?" After assuring her that she was only tired and not feeling unwell, Jessica made her way upstairs and into her room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Toby wandered up the stairs when he heard a strange bang coming from Jessica's room followed by a muffled, "Ow, my head!"

Curious as to what was going on, he approached her door and knocked, hearing her muttering to herself and apparently tripping over. "Jess, it's me! Can I come in?" he asked.

"Toby!" she exclaimed. "N-no! I-I'm not...I'm not decent!" Toby rolled his eyes, knowing full well she was lying. The stuttering and the way her voice had risen a few octaves was a dead giveaway.

"Yeah, and I got the highest score on that last test!" he responded, turning the door handle. Just as he'd suspected, she had been lying but the sight of her sitting on her bed surrounded by a lot of white feathers? "You lose a fight with your pillow?"

She glanced down at her bed, noticing the mess. "No, I...wait, what are you even doing in here? I said I was..."

Toby sighed. "Jess, I don't know if you know this but I've known how to tell when you're lying for years. Now are you gonna tell me what's going on or am I gonna have to play detective?"

* * *

Jessica looked at the boy who had moved into the room from inside the doorway. His foot was tapping the floor impatiently as he waited for her response. She wished she could think of a way to stall for time but her mind was blank and she knew he wouldn't leave until he knew exactly what was going on.

"Okay, so you know how we seem to be able to use our powers on Earth now? Even when we're not transformed?" Toby nodded silently as she continued. "Well, think about it - I'm an Air Lord. What can I apparently do now?"

She watched him frowning as he thought about it. "Wait," he muttered to himself before he looked up at her. "You can really do that?" To her surprise, her friend nearly sprints across the room and sits down on the bed next to her, an eager smile on his face. "Can I see them?"

She honestly hadn't expected him to work it out that quickly and it caught her off guard. So she shook her head frantically, not trusting herself to speak.

"Awww, why not?" he almost whined.

"Because you'll laugh," she told him simply.

"No, I won't," was his immediate response.

"Toby, this is you we're talking about here. You laugh at _everything!"_ she reminded him, folding her arms. She needed to keep finding reasons to say no. She couldn't let him win.

Her friend looked at her suddenly with a strange look on his face. With utter sincerity, he said, "I won't laugh, Jess. I promise."

She looked at him, unable to understand why he couldn't just give up. To her annoyance, her brain was running out of reasons for her to say no. "Fine," she relented. "I'll show you but if you tell anyone..."

"You'll make sure my life isn't worth living. I know!" Toby said cheerfully and she resisted the urge to throw the pillow on the bed at him. He could be so annoying at times and it annoyed her that she found it attractive. Yes, she just thought that and, as much as she'd like to take it back and pretend it never happened, she knows she can't. And, really, she doesn't want to pretend. Not anymore, at least.

She stood up and stood in front of him, taking a deep breath. Her heart was beating faster than ever. Was this really a good idea? She'd already agreed, though

She didn't feel right not keeping her promise. She felt she had to do it now, even if he _did_ laugh. Toby watched in awe as a pair of angel wings slowly unfurled from her back. "See?" she said stubbornly, folding her arms and refusing to meet his gaze. "I look..."

"Beautiful," he murmured, as though he was in a trance. "So very beautiful."

Jessica felt her cheeks burn at this, cursing the crush she had on him. It was amusing seeing him like this, she mused. He almost looked lovestruck, the way he was staring at her. No, that couldn't be right.

She looked down and saw that he had grabbed her hand in his own, pulling her closer to him. His other hand reached round to her back, touching the wings gently.

"S-Sorry!" he exclaimed as she did a quivery little jump. He continued to stroke the feathers, being careful not to ruffle them. "So soft..."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously, the sensation making her feel relaxed and calm for some reason.

"Well, when you're transformed, your feathers are really sharp like knives. But these...they're really soft and fluffy!" he explained as he finally looked up.

"Fluffy?" she giggled slightly. "Never thought I'd hear you say that, Toby!"

She turned around to face him and was taken aback once more by the look on his face. He looked genuinely happy and it made her feel happy, too. Why had she thought it would be embarrassing to reveal her new secret to him again?

"You know - you almost look like an angel," Toby said thoughtfully before nodding and looking her right in the eye. "Yeah...my little angel."

If her face had been red before, Jessica was positive she was as red as a tomato by now as she squeaked out, "Y-Your little angel?"

He reached out with one hand, cupping her face. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips brush against her own. It was brief and she felt herself whimper slightly, wishing it had lasted longer. "Yeah," he responded as he pulled away. She opened her eyes and realized that his face was as red as hers felt. So he was nervous or embarrassed, too? It didn't make any sense to her at first - Toby didn't _get_ nervous or embarrassed. But then it clicked...oh. _Now_...now she understood.

With renewed confidence, she asked, "So does this make you my wet head, then? Or should I call you fish boy instead?"

"I-I guess so," he said, suddenly overcome with nerves. "I'll be whatever you want me to be - I just want you to know that I really like you, Jess."

Jessica smirked. "I think I worked that out when you kissed me," she told him. "But I like you too. If I didn't, you probably wouldn't be conscious right now, no offense!" She wouldn't let just any guy kiss her - if someone tried to force a kiss on her, she'd definitely defend herself.

"Wait," Toby said as he tried to process it all. "So are we..."

"I don't know," Jessica responded in a teasing tone. "Do you want to be?"

"Would I ask if I didn't want to be?" Toby replied, running a hand through his hair.

Instead of replying, she leaned in and kissed him. When they broke apart, she whispered, "Yes, you silly wet head."

* * *

"Hey, Jess," Toby called out as he absent-mindedly stroked his girlfriend's wings. "Do you think I can do this at other times? It's really relaxing and I like just being with you like this."

"As long as we're alone, I don't mind," Jessica responded, feeling so relaxed she felt she would fall asleep at any moment.

"Hey, what if I can spontaneously grow gills or fins? I'd be able to breathe underwater for as long as I liked! I'd never lose another swimming race again! Jess, hey, are you even listening?"

Toby looked down and saw that his girlfriend had fallen asleep. Her wings had folded themselves back in. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead, whispering:

"Sweet dreams, my little angel."


	54. March 12 - Forgive

_AN: Thought I'd write a funny one! Felt like some humour was due. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _234_

* * *

Gina watched Jessica's face morph into a frown as Toby, Nick and Lucas walked into the classroom. The latter two were laughing about something but Toby looked uncharacteristically miserable. There could be only one cause.

"Did you and Toby argue again?" she asked. It wasn't uncommon for the two blondes to bicker - in fact they seemed to thrive on it.

Jessica merely nodded, her frown deepening as Toby sat in his usual seat. He looked as though he wanted to say something to her but then thought better of it.

* * *

At lunch, the two girls sat at a table near the window. Jessica moodily picked at her food.

"Come on, Jess!" Gina said, a little impatiently. "What did he even do that was so bad in the first place?"

"You don't understand!" was the girl's reply.

"I would if you'd tell me!"

"He ate...he ate my... _cupcake?"_

The two girls looked up to see Toby holding a plate with a cupcake on it. "Peace offering?" he said sheepishly. "Look, Jess, I'm sorry I ate the last cupcake. I didn't know you wanted it, I swear!"

Jessica took the plate and scrutinized the cupcake carefully. It looked exactly like the cupcake she'd wanted.

Toby nervously asked, "So do you forgive me?"

Jessica nodded.

"Wait a minute!" Gina exclaimed. "All of this was because of a cupcake?"


	55. March 16 - Wire

_AN: I've often thought about a Gormiti/Pokemon crossover AU and I finally decided to write something for it! I apologize if the battle sucks- it's my first time writing one. Yes, they're traveling through Hoenn (it's my favourite region, okay). Enjoy and let me know if you want me to write more like this!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _982_

* * *

"We're down to the wire here, folks! Both trainers are down to their last Pokémon!"

Toby held out his pokéball. "It's up to you, buddy!" he whispered before yelling as he threw the ball, "Floatzel, let's win this!"

The Sea Weasel Pokémon materialized, doing a stylish flip and landing with his arms folded, a confident smirk on his face as he awaited his opponent.

Across the stadium, Jessica had also thrown her own pokéball. "I'm counting on you, Altaria!" she cried as her beautiful evolved dragon-flying type soared up high.

Both trainers and pokémon stared each other down as the referee called out for the final time that day, "Battle begin!"

"Okay, Floatzel, start things off with Rock Tomb!" Toby called out. Even though they had a speed advantage, he knew that Jessica's Altaria knew Dragon Dance which could raise its speed.

Floatzel obliged, summoning boulders from nowhere before hurling them towards his opponent.

"Quick, Altaria, fly up and dodge it!" The Humming Pokémon did just that and Toby gritted his teeth. Even though he had two years more experience as a trainer, Jessica was a quick learner and, though she was a coordinator, he couldn't deny she had a talent for battling. He almost felt proud of how far she'd come but he couldn't think about that now. He had a battle to win.

"Now, Altaria, Dragon Dance!" He looked up to see Altaria surround itself with a purple glow as her attack and speed increased.

"Let's take back control, Floatzel! Use Aqua Tail!" Floatzel still had a speed advantage and managed to land the attack on Altaria before Jessica could call out a countermove. It didn't do a lot of damage but it had been the first successful hit.

"This competition's getting fierce, folks! Neither trainer is willing to give an inch!" the announcer stated as the crowd cheered.

"I've got to find a way to take advantage somehow..." Jessica muttered. "But how?" Suddenly she smiled and called to her pokémon, "Altaria, let's use that combination we've been practising!"

Altaria let out a cry and swooped down, flying close to the ground, gathering speed before disappearing from view.

"Aerial Ace..." Toby said to himself, watching as Floatzel looked from side to side, trying to find Altaria. "Floatzel, be careful!"

Suddenly Toby spotted a faint purple glow to the left of Floatzel. "Sonic Boom, and aim to the left!" he shouted.

The waves of energy collided with Altaria who let out a cry as she became visible. Jessica winced - clearly she and Altaria needed to work on their combination of Aerial Ace and Dragon Pulse. Their timing had been slightly off and it had cost them dearly.

"Nice try, Jess, but you're not the only one with good combinations!" Toby called out to his friend. "You ready, Floatzel?"

Jessica's eyes widened. She couldn't let Toby pull off a successful combination when her own had failed so spectacularly. "It's time, Altaria. Perish Song!"

Altaria opened her beak. "Floatzel, now!" Toby yelled fearfully, knowing that he had to move fast or his chances of winning would be over.

Once more Floatzel charged up a Sonic Boom, sending it towards Altaria. Jessica commanded Altaria to dodge, not noticing that Floatzel had also used Rock Tomb.

The boulders slammed into Altaria, causing significant damage and decreasing her speed.

"Let's finish this up, Floatzel!" Toby yelled. Floatzel spun its tail as water formed around it before firing a beam of icy energy from its mouth. The stray droplets of water were frozen into shards of ice which rained down on Altaria.

Altaria, disoriented from the Sonic Boom and her movements slowed by Rock Tomb, could do little more than let out a pained cry as the ice shards collided with her feathery body.

"Ice Beam one more time!" Floatzel generated yet another beam of ice and fired it directly at his opponent.

"Altaria!" Jessica cried out in worry as her pokémon fell to the ground, knocked out from the super-effective attack.

"Altaria is unable to battle! Floatzel wins - therefore the winner of the tournament is Toby Tripp!" the announcer said over the din of the crowd.

"Great work, Floatzel!" Toby said happily as he returned his pokémon and looked over at Jessica who was petting Altaria.

"Don't feel bad, Altaria! You battled really hard! Now get some rest, okay!" she told her pokémon as she returned her.

The announcer walked out into the stadium. "Congratulations," he said to Toby. "This is the mystery prize!"

Toby held out his hands and the announcer placed a container in his hands that had an egg inside it. "A Pokémon Egg!" he exclaimed. "Cool!"

* * *

"I wonder what kind of Pokémon it'll hatch into," Jessica wondered as she and Toby left the stadium and headed east to Route 118.

"Who knows? As long as it's healthy, I don't mind what it is," Toby said thoughtfully as he took a closer look at the egg. It was a medium-blue with the top part a creamy-yellow and two pale pink semicircles.

"As long as it's not a Spinarak!" Jessica teased and Toby shuddered.

"So not funny..." he muttered before getting excited. "Anyway now I not only have my battle at the Fortree Gym to look forward to but I get to look forward to seeing what this little one hatches into!"

"Fortree City, here we come!" Jessica cheered, equally excited. She knew the Gym Leader there specialized in Flying types and she'd always wanted to meet her in person.

"You really want to meet Winona, don't you?" Toby said, a grin on his face as he watched Jessica speed up.

"Of course!" she responded. "Now hurry up or we'll never get there!"


	56. March 26 - Curse

_AN: This oneshot is an AU of a Gormiti comic but obviously more shippy. Hope you enjoy it!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _2000_

* * *

Jessica was flying in the skies over the Air Nation. There had been reports of a mysterious Gormiti attacking the floating fortresses, most likely in an attempt to steal the precious Falcon Stones.

So far, however, she had yet to see any sign of malicious activity. Things seemed pretty calm but she continued to patrol the skies, knowing full well that things could change at any moment.

And, unbeknownst to her, things were about to change in a way she never could have anticipated.

A mysterious horned Gormiti with dark armour and piercing yellow eyes smirked as he watched the Lord of Air circling overhead, oblivious to his presence. _'This could work out quite nicely for me.'_

He held his hands out and a blackish-purple glow started to exude from them. Then he took aim and fired upwards, hearing a cry as his curse corrupted the winged Lord of Nature.

 _'Now, Lord of Air, you will do my bidding. Bring me the Falcon Stones!'_

Like a puppet attached to strings, the Air Lord nodded mechanically before flying away. The mysterious Gormiti laughed maniacally. This was his best plan yet!

* * *

Meanwhile Toby and Nick were wandering Gorm in search of their missing friend. Though their orbs were holding up for now, Lucas was worried that they wouldn't last for much longer. Unfortunately he couldn't get a reading on Jessica at all and, until she was found, they couldn't return to Earth.

"You found anything yet, Lucas?" Nick asked.

"Nothing," Lucas responded with a sigh. "Wait, hold on!" After a few moments, he said frantically, "We just received a distress call from the Air Nation! They're under attack!"

Toby and Nick exchanged glances. First Jessica had gone missing and now the Air Gormiti were being attacked? Something wasn't right.

"I'll gate you guys there right away!" There was a flash of light and the two Lords disappeared from view. Lucas used the crystals to ensure that they landed safely in the Air Nation.

"Lords of Nature!" A voice called out as soon as they'd landed. "Thank goodness you've arrived! Your assistance is much needed here!"

They turned around and saw that the speaker was Bertz, an Air Gormiti with a lot of respect and authority.

"What exactly is the problem here?" Nick asked. "Who's attacking you?"

Bertz exchanged a look with Sirgius before replying, "The Lord of Air..."

Toby almost laughed. Part of him wanted to ask Bertz if he was joking but Air Gormiti weren't exactly renowned for their sense of humour. "B-but that can't be right! Jessica wouldn't do that! She just wouldn't!" he protested.

"Believe me, Lord of the Sea, I don't want to say this but I think our Lord has turned against us!" Bertz said sadly.

Nick frowned as he asked, "What exactly is she doing? Is she attacking you without provocation?"

"One of our scouts saw her attempting to take the Falcon Stones from their chamber," Sirgius replied. "Though he fought bravely, the theft was successful. Look!"

The two Lords looked down and saw that one of the floating fortresses was on the ground. It seemed that Jessica was after the Falcon Stones but why?

"She's back!" A yell sounded. Toby and Nick looked up, only to be hit with a blast of wind.

When it cleared, they saw their friend, her hands held out in front of her, making it clear she had been the one who attacked them. They gasped when they saw that her body was covered by a strange, dark aura.

"Jessica!" Toby called out to her. "Why did you attack us? We're your friends!"

"Why are you attacking your own people?" Nick added.

Jessica smirked at them. "You are no friends of mine!" she spoke in a tainted, almost demonic sounding voice. "I serve only my master!"

Nick and Toby were confused. What 'master' was she talking about?

"Jess, you have to stop!" Toby pleaded with her. "This isn't you. Whoever's making you do this is no friend!"

He took a step back as Jessica fixed her cold gaze on him. "Do I, Lord of the Sea? I see no reason to stop. The fun has only just begun! Fighting Feathers launch!"

Everyone cried out as they were bombarded with dozens of sharp, feather-like darts. Toby and Nick felt helpless - neither of them wanted to attack their friend. It wasn't Jessica's fault she was doing all this.

"I've wasted enough time here!" Jessica announced suddenly. She formed a ball of wind between her hands and threw it at the group of Air Gormiti and her fellow Lords. The ball expanded and formed a massive tornado, trapping them all inside it.

They could just see her flying away from inside the howling winds swirling around them. "Could this _get_ any worse?" Toby muttered, still trying to get his head around what had just happened.

A massive rumbling sound occurred. "Unless that was somebody's stomach, the answer is probably yes!" Nick responded.

"The Falcon Stones!" an Air Gormiti yelled. Immediately panic surged through the group. The fortress was fast approaching the ground and they were still trapped inside the tornado.

"We're gonna die!" Toby yelled, losing his head completely.

"No, we're not!" Nick said, tapping his shoulder. "Look!" Below them was a pool of golden light. As it hit them, they felt themselves being taken somewhere. They just hoped it was somewhere safe.

* * *

When they were finally able to move again, Toby and Nick immediately noticed the winged Gormiti with golden armour and luminous-blue eyes. They both recognized him as the Gormiti they had returned to Gorm just a few months earlier.

"Supreme Luminous!" Nick exclaimed, his eyes wide in awe.

Toby, meanwhile, was still looking around. "Wait, where's Jessica? Why isn't she here too?"

The Lord of Light lowered his head. "I'm afraid the Lord of Air has fallen victim to a curse cast by Incubion," he informed them.

"Incubion? Isn't he one of Obscurio's followers?" Nick wondered aloud.

Toby cursed. He had known something wasn't right with his friend. The Jessica he knew would never willingly attack her own people. "So what are we going to do, then? We can't let her stay under that monster's spell forever!"

"We have to find a way to get her here somehow," Nick said thoughtfully before turning to Supreme Luminous and asking, "Will the power of light be enough to remove the curse?"

"You will only know if you try," was the cryptic response from the Lord of Light.

Nick then turned to Toby. "Jessica's after the Falcon Stones, right?" Toby nodded, not quite understanding where his brother was going. "Well, it's time we set a trap. And what does a trap always need?"

The two of them looked at each other. "Bait!"

Before they could leave, Supreme Luminous told them, "There is something else you will require to succeed!" He held out his hands and a beam of golden light emitted from them, surrounding the Lords and giving them a surplus of power.

When the light cleared, the two noticed that their forms had changed. They felt more powerful than ever. "Awesome!" Toby exclaimed.

"Now, go, my Lords of Nature! Be wise! Stay true! Fight hard!"

* * *

"It was good of the Air Gormiti to let us use this Falcon Stone!" Nick said loudly. Of course the Falcon Stone wasn't real but they had to act like it was.

"Well, with all the attacks lately, they wanted the remaining stones to have the best possible protection!" Toby added just as loudly. "And who could do a better job than the Lords of Nature?"

They looked up as they heard the sound of wing beats. "Fools!" Jessica said disdainfully. "You really think you can stand against me?"

"We can and we will!" Nick responded before launching an attack, starting a duel with his friend. He didn't want to do it but it was all part of their plan.

Meanwhile Toby was finding a place not too far away so he could fulfill his part of the plan without Jessica getting wind of what he was doing and trying to escape.

He crouched down and held out his index finger above the ground, taking a deep breath before beginning to trace.

"You cannot stop me!" Jessica taunted as she and Nick continued to battle. "I will steal every Falcon Stone in existence!"

"Not on our watch!" Nick yelled back, attacking once more. Unfortunately he lost his grip on the (fake) Falcon Stone in the process. Jessica immediately swooped down to pick it up before letting out an angry snarl.

"This is a fake!" she yelled.

"Toby!" Nick called out desperately. They couldn't fail now.

Toby held out his hand over the completed symbol of Supreme Luminous and called out, "For the power of the light!"

For a moment, it seemed as though nothing had happened. Then a beam of light shot down from the sky, taking the three of them with it as it disappeared as quickly as it came.

* * *

"Jessica, are you okay?" Toby asked softly, looking at his friend as she looked around.

"Careful, bro!" Nick warned him. "She's still cursed, remember?"

Supreme Luminous approached. "This will require us to combine our powers together but first," he held out his hand and called, "Keeper, I command you to join us!"

There was a flash of light and Lucas appeared, transformed. Like the others, his form had also changed.

The four Lords stood around Jessica, linking hands before calling out together, "For the power of the light!"

A blinding light hit their friend's body. The three friends closed their eyes, hoping that they had succeeded. "Well? Did it work?"

"It failed!" Jessica laughed. "You have failed!"

They exchanged horrified glances. If even the power of light wasn't enough to remove the curse, what else could they do?

While Nick and Lucas were silently despairing, Toby was staring at his friend. There _had_ to be something, some way to bring her back. And then it came to him.

He moved forward until he was standing directly in front of her. This had to work, he thought to himself. It just had to. With that in mind, he leaned in and kissed her.

She struggled, of course. She tried desperately to escape his grip but he was stronger than her and eventually she lost the will to fight back. She didn't know what it was that she was feeling. It felt so good but it hurt.

Nick and Lucas watched, confused. Suddenly they heard an inhuman scream but it hadn't come from either Toby or Jessica. Instead it had come from the shadow that had risen from Jessica's body. Supreme Luminous fired a beam of light at the shadow and it faded away completely.

Like them, Jessica's form began to change now that she was no longer under the influence of the curse. The two broke apart, Toby holding Jessica in his arms.

"Jess, are you okay?" he asked her gently.

"Toby?" she mumbled. "What are you doing here? Where is here?"

Toby looked around at Nick and Lucas. It was clear that Jessica had no memory of what had happened. "It's alright, Jess," he murmured, holding her close. "You're safe now."

Supreme Luminous gazed at the two Lords, still in each other's embrace. Their love was destined.

"How did the curse get removed?" Lucas asked Nick who simply shrugged in response.

"There is but one thing a Gormiti who allows darkness to rule their heart cannot understand, young Lords," Supreme Luminous told them.

"What's that?" they both questioned.

The Lord of Light's gaze fell once more upon their companions before he responded.

"Love."


	57. April 1 - Alarm

_AN: Now I know what you're all thinking here. It's not April! What planet are you on? But it is part of my plan. I will hopefully be able to write these in order of length from shortest and then rearrange them according to date. Hope you enjoy this one anyway!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _100_

* * *

"Mommy! Daddy! Come on, get up!"

Toby and Jessica woke up to find their five year old daughter Erin bouncing excitedly on the foot of their bed, a mischievous grin on her face.

Hovering near the doorway was her older sister, Tori, who looked very reluctant to be there and seemed ready to fall asleep where she was.

"Looks like we have ourselves a living alarm clock," Toby mumbled sleepily. He would have appreciated some more sleep as this day was one of his days off.

"Apparently so," Jessica responded.

"Come on! Don't you know what day it is?"


	58. April 3 - Cat

_AN: Just a short oneshot for how Tori meets and acquires her pet cat, Shadow. I headcanon that she has Shadow and Erin has a hamster named Nacho._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _333_

* * *

Tori walked into her house after an afternoon at the park. "Shh!" the nine year old girl whispered to the furry bundle in her arms. "Or else we'll get caught!"

She quietly went upstairs to her room and sat down on her bed. "You'll be safe in here for now, Shadow," she assured her companion. "I know you're not fond of people either but I'm sure Mom and Dad will let me keep you!"

"Tori?" Her father's voice called out. "Who are you talking to?"

"Um, no one, Dad!" she called back before hissing, "Quick, Shadow, hide!"

* * *

Toby opened the door and saw his daughter sitting on her bed. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "I could have sworn you were talking to someone!"

She shook her head, obviously hoping he'd drop it. Suddenly he let out a pained cry as something launched itself at his legs and began scratching them while yowling and hissing furiously. "What the-" he muttered.

Tori gasped. "Shadow, stop it!" she yelled. She leapt off her bed and picked up what Toby could now plainly see was a cat with black fur except for its paws which were white. "You apologize right now!" she scolded.

Toby watched, bemused, as the cat - or Shadow, as Tori had apparently named it - gave her an almost offended mew.

"Tori, you know you can't just go bringing random cats home from the streets!" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Besides this cat could belong to someone already!"

"But if she doesn't," Tori asked, looking up at him pleadingly. "Can I keep her? Please?"

Toby looked at her, disbelievingly. "What's so special about this cat, rosebud? The way she attacked me, I thought she was a demon or something!"

"She's just not a people cat, that's all!" Tori responds, shrugging. "But she trusts me and I feel like she's meant to be here!"

Shadow purred, agreeing.


	59. April 5 - Join

_AN: So this is kind of a scenario of what if they'd met before they actually met but didn't realize it, I guess. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _294_

* * *

"Hey, come and join in with us!"

Jessica looked up and saw a blonde boy her age looking at her, holding a soccer ball in his hands. Behind him were two other boys, perhaps a year younger.

"I- I can't!" she called back. Her mom wouldn't let her play with the other kids. In fact, she wasn't even supposed to _talk_ to them. She knew that she'd be in big trouble when she got home. The boys seemed to accept this and left, much to her relief.

She returned to staring at the blades of grass, spotting the insects. Her mother sat on a bench nearby and she tried to pretend that her glare was focused on someone other than her.

Soon her mother would make her leave the park but the memory would never leave her mind.

* * *

"Come and join in with us!"

Just two short weeks later, she was back in the same park and the same boys were asking her to join in their game.

The only difference this time was that her mother wasn't there. So it was okay for her to join in, wasn't it? Her mother couldn't punish her if she didn't know.

"Okay!" she called out, standing up before running over to join them. She had had enough of being alone - after weeks of wanting to join in and being unable to, she finally had a chance. And she wasn't about to let that chance slip through her fingers.

She would know for the first time what it was like to have friends. It would be far more wonderful than she ever could have imagined and her mother wouldn't be able to take it away from her.


	60. April 25 - Snail

_AN: Thought I'd try a dialogue-only oneshot. It was pretty enjoyable to write, actually. So, enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _135_

* * *

"Toby! Will you stop being such a slowcoach and hurry up?"

"There's no rush, is there? There'll still be plenty of hot chocolate by the time we get there. Don't worry about it!"

"But I want some now! If there's none left by the time we get there, I might _die!"_

"Heh, you and your chocolate..."

"Can you just stop being such a - a... _snail?"_

"A snail? Really? Besides I doubt Granny Mabel would let herself run out of hot chocolate - she knows you can't get enough of it!"

"Hey, Toby, I heard there's a sale on the blackberry crumble. Toby? Hey, Toby, wait for me!"

" _Now_ who's being the snail, Jess?"

"Well, it made you move, didn't it? I should have tried that at the start!"


	61. May 2 - Cheese

_AN: This is a weird one but a funny one. Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's_ _note):_** _381_

* * *

"You're kidding me, right?" a nine year old Toby said incredulously to his best friend. "How can you not like..."

Jessica folded her arms and said a little huffily, "I just don't, okay! It's hardly a crime!"

As Nick and Lucas walked into the room, Toby exclaimed dramatically, "She doesn't like it, guys! She doesn't like it!"

"Doesn't like what?" Lucas asked curiously as he sat down on one of the sofas.

" _Cheese!"_ Toby practically shouted before turning to Jessica and asking, "How can you not like cheese?"

Jessica rolled her eyes as all three boys gave her horrified looks. She didn't understand what was so bad about disliking cheese. "Plenty of people have things they don't like!" she pointed out, folding her arms. "And I don't like cheese!"

* * *

"How can you eat that?" Tori asked in disgust, gesturing to the pizza that Toby and Erin were digging into.

Toby looked up. "You and your mother honestly don't know what you're missing out on here!" he told her before picking up another slice.

The mother and daughter exchanged looks before each taking a slice out of the box of garlic bread they'd ordered. Tori wasn't fond of eating takeout too often but since their oven wasn't working properly, they had to order so Erin would stop complaining about being hungry. Then again, Erin _always_ seemed to be hungry.

"It's just milk that's gone off!" Tori said after finishing her slice. "Not to mention it smells _and_ tastes horrible!"

Toby looked at Jessica and asked jokingly, "Are you sure you haven't been projecting your hatred for cheese onto her?"

"No, I haven't," Jessica responded. "I don't mind other people liking cheese. I just can't bring myself to like it and I'm sure it's the same for Tori as well."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Tori added. "I mean if you like cheese, that's fine by me. Just give me a bowl of ice-cream any day!"

"It'd be chocolate for your mom!" Toby laughed, recalling his wife's chocolate addiction.

There was a moment of silence before Tori admitted quietly, "Honestly I'm not fond of chocolate either."


	62. May 3 - Father

_AN: Okay, so this one's just a fluffy one. I have a headcanon that both Toby and Jessica talk to Tori before she's actually born and that's how this oneshot came about. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _320_

* * *

It never really hit Toby that he really was going to be a father. Of course he knew his wife was pregnant again and they were going to have a baby but somehow the thought of what it all meant for them never registered in his mind, at least not straightaway.

Jessica was lying on the couch one afternoon, taking a nap. Toby sat on the floor next to her and affectionately kissed her forehead. Subconsciously his hand found itself resting on her slightly rounded belly. He couldn't help the smile that threatened to split his face open. Their baby - his and Jessica's - was in there. Tiny, but they were there.

"Hey there, baby," he spoke softly so as not to awaken his sleeping wife. "I'm your daddy. We can't wait to meet you, your mommy and I. We already love you so much."

He stops for a moment, thinking of their babies who hadn't made it and smiling wistfully before continuing. "I might not be the perfect father, you know. But I'll be the best one I can be. A lot of people probably won't expect much from me so I'll prove them wrong. We'll prove them wrong."

"Anyway, I bet you're as beautiful as your mommy. She means the world to me and you do too. I just hope you get her brains and not mine otherwise you're gonna need a really smart friend to get through school!"

He thought carefully, sure their baby was a girl - he wasn't certain but he just had a feeling. "So we don't know yet whether you're a boy or a girl. I think you're a girl, personally, but your mommy will probably think you're a boy because she just loves competing with me. Whatever you are, we'll love you unconditionally."

Jessica stirred slightly, smiling.


	63. May 9 - Marry

_AN: Thought I'd do a oneshot focusing on Jessica and Tori for a change. Hope you enjoy it._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1665_

* * *

Jessica noticed that her eldest daughter seemed a little out-of-sorts. She was unusually quiet and had gone straight upstairs to her room after returning home from school.

After Toby had left for work and Erin had to decided to go out with her friends somewhere, she figured that she would go and try to find out what was troubling the thirteen year old girl so much.

She had to admit, though she and Tori were close, a part of her wished they were closer. Her daughter disapproved whenever anyone said it but she had always been a daddy's girl right from the moment she was born.

But Toby wasn't here and he wouldn't return until morning. If there was something seriously wrong, Jessica felt that it would be best to get it off her chest as soon as possible rather than delaying it.

* * *

Tori sat on her bed, her mind replaying an event from earlier that day.

 _'Oh, my gosh, look at this guy! Isn't he so hot?'_

 _'I know! I'd totally date him in a heartbeat!'_

 _'No way, his brother is way cuter!_ _I can totally see myself marrying a hunk like him!'_

 _'Hey, Tori, what do you think? Hot or not?'_

 _'He's...he's okay...I guess?'_

 _'Okay? You're such a weirdo! How can you not find this attractive?'_

She'd been sitting in the cafeteria listening to a group of girls discussing male celebrities in a magazine. At one point, they'd asked her opinion and she'd frozen up completely.

How was she supposed to find the men in the picture attractive? She didn't know them and looks weren't everything. She had next to no idea how people could claim to be in love with someone they knew nothing about.

Still, their reaction had shaken her. Was she really weird for not reacting in the same way as them? She just felt glad she hadn't said what else was on her mind.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear the knock on her door. Her dad was at work by now and Erin had a habit of barging in without knocking first which left only one possibility.

* * *

"Come in," her daughter's quiet voice invited. Jessica opened the door and saw Tori sat on her bed, knees brought up to her chest, petting Shadow. "Is something wrong?"

"I could ask you the same question," she responded.

Jessica mentally sighed. This could take a while.

"Do you think I'm weird?"

The question seemed to come from out of nowhere, breaking the silence.

"No," she answered. "Why?" She thought for a moment and added, "Has someone told you you're weird?"

Tori looked down, refusing to make eye contact, which Jessica knew meant ' _Yes"._

"Well, they're right, really, aren't they?" she mumbled. "I'll have to get married one day, won't I?"

Where was this coming from? Why was her thirteen year old daughter thinking that far ahead? "Only if you want to," Jessica told her daughter, trying to reassure her. It didn't work.

"But how am I supposed to do that if I can't even have crushes on people?"

* * *

The minute she said it, she wished she hadn't. Her mother was looking at her, confused. Of course she wouldn't understand how it felt. Not really.

Once again, an awkward silence filled the air. Finally Tori spoke, "Okay, if you're going to say anything, please don't say I'm too young or I'm just going through a phase. I don't know what it means that I can't _like_ people the way everyone else does but I just... it's who I am, I guess."

She watched her mother carefully, looking for any sign of anger or disapproval. "It's alright, Tori," her mother said soothingly, sitting down on the bed, placing her hand on her shoulder. "It's alright."

Tori frowned slightly. Wasn't her mother supposed to get angry at her? "You do understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Yes, I think so," was her mother's response.

"So why aren't you mad at me?" she questioned. "Why aren't you telling me I'm wrong?"

* * *

Jessica couldn't believe that this was what was bothering her daughter. But, at the same time, it made a lot of sense.

From what she could work out, her daughter was telling her that she wasn't attracted to anyone - in other words she was asexual, possibly aromantic too. That didn't bother her in the slightest. What did bother her was how Tori seemed to think she would be mad at her for who she was.

"You think how you feel isn't normal, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, it's not...right? I mean, you're either into one or the other or even both. That's what they teach us at school anyway." Tori answered miserably.

Jessica felt upset at this. It was no wonder her daughter felt so confused and invalidated if the school only taught that you were supposed to be attracted to people. What kind of message did that send out to her daughter and others in her shoes? As well as everyone else?

"People may not talk about it much but it's alright not to be attracted to people. It's just as normal as any other sexuality or romantic attraction and there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

"Wait, so you're not going to tell me I'm too young or inexperienced to know?" Tori asked disbelievingly.

"No, I'm not. I can't tell you how you feel. You know what you're into and what you're not. It's possible you may not feel like this forever but that doesn't make it a phase. It just means that your identity is shifting which is completely fine. On the other hand, you may never be attracted to people and that's fine, too."

"So if I never date or get married-"

"Tori, like I said, it's your choice. Whether you date or not, whether you get married or not, it doesn't invalidate who you are. You may want a romantic relationship or you might just want a platonic one. You're just as capable of feeling the same kind of love and passion as anyone else. You just express yours in a different way, that's all."

Tori looked touched, her eyes shining with gratitude. Sensing that her daughter was becoming emotionally overwhelmed, Jessica came up with an idea.

"Tell you what, why don't I cook you that pasta meal you like so much? she suggested, watching her daughter smile slightly.

"Thanks, Mom," she said gratefully, hugging her. She was glad of the change of subject. For the first time in a long while, she didn't hate herself for how she felt. She finally felt as though she could learn to appreciate and understand who she was.

* * *

Sitting on the sofa downstairs, after enjoying the meal, Tori suddenly thought about something and voiced it out loud. "Will I have to tell Dad as well? What if-"

"You can tell him if you want to or I could if you'd prefer it," her mom told her. "But I won't say anything if you don't want me to."

"I...I..." Tori stuttered, thinking about it. On the one hand, if she told him now, what if her father didn't understand anything about what she felt? On the other hand, if she never told him or told him later, what if he got angry that her mother knew before he did? She'd always confided in her dad before. What was so different about this time?

"Can you tell him?" she decided finally. "It'd probably be better coming from you than from me."

"Alright," her mother agreed. "But you know he won't be angry at you, don't you? You haven't done anything wrong."

* * *

The next day, while the girls were at school, Jessica filled Toby in about everything Tori had told her.

"She must have been struggling with it for a while," he mused eventually. "I guess she probably didn't want to tell you in the first place."

"No, she didn't," she agreed. "I think it just came out unintentionally but I think, also, she's kind of relieved that she did say it. In a way, it means she's learning to accept who she is."

Toby put his arm around her shoulder. "And all we have to do is love her just like we've always done," he pointed out. "Do you think we should have Lorraine talk to her at some point when she's more comfortable about it? It might help her to feel less isolated. I mean, from what you told me, she doesn't think that what she's feeling is normal. So if she talks to someone who's likely felt a similar way to her, I don't know..."

"Maybe," Jessica said. "In any case, we shouldn't tell anyone about it - even family - unless she wants us to. It'd mean betraying her trust. And you know Tori doesn't hand out trust easily."

"Yeah, you're right," Toby sighed. "We don't want her to feel like she can't talk to us about anything anymore."

The couple looked at one another for a moment. Their daughter had always been introverted but they didn't want her to isolate herself from them completely as she grew up. They wanted to always be there for her and Erin as well.

"No matter who she's attracted to, if anyone, there's one thing that will never change," Toby declared.

"What's that?" Jessica asked curiously.

"She'll always be our little rosebud."


	64. May 15 - Sleep

_AN: Just another fluffy one, I guess. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _377_

* * *

Toby was almost dropping off when he heard his door handle turning. He sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily, as Jessica wandered in, looking half-asleep.

"Something wrong?" he slurred as he let out a yawn.

Jessica approached until she was standing at the foot of his bed. Somehow she managed to make it without falling over."I can't sleep..." she said quietly.

"You're not tired?" he asked incredulously, watching the girl stifle a yawn.

"No, I am," she insisted. "I just...I can't seem to go to sleep."

"So, instead, you thought you'd wake me up?" he stated dryly. Jessica's eyes widened and she opened her mouth, perhaps to apologize, but he waved her off. "I'm just kidding - I was still awake!"

He watched her tentatively step a bit closer until she was able to sit down on the edge of his bed, after glancing his way, silently asking for his permission which he granted.

"So, uh, why can't you sleep?" he asked curiously. "Something bothering you?"

She looked at him, an unreadable look in her eyes and did not respond. Suddenly he had an idea - it was a risky one - and decided to make it known. He held out his hand and beckoned for her to come closer. A confused frown on her face, she stood up and walked towards him.

Before he could really think about what he was doing, he moved across on his bed to make room for her. "What are you..." he heard her squeak out.

Despite the fact that his face felt like it was burning, he managed to quip, "It's not like we haven't done this before!"

It was the truth. They _had_ shared a sleeping space before but somehow, it felt different this time.

"A-are you sure?" she asked. He found himself unable to verbally answer and simply nodded, his nerves sky-rocketing as she hesitantly climbed into the bed beside him.

They kept a space between them, or at least tried to - they could occasionally feel their hands brushing and would immediately pull away as though they'd been burned.

"Is this gonna become a regular thing?" he asked, only to receive no response. "She's asleep..."


	65. May 17 - Brief

_AN: Okay, so this one's definitely a weird AU. Not really a shippy one, I guess (you'll understand why) but Jessica is Toby's guardian angel or something in this. Well, uh, enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _673_

* * *

 _Their meeting was brief but it would change his life forever._

Toby sat on the bus, his headphones blasting music away in his ears, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough that it wouldn't disturb the other passengers.

The teenage boy glanced at the passing scenery and let out a heavy sigh. Anyone else would enjoy the sight of Venture Falls, where nothing bad ever seemed to happen but Toby wanted more. He wanted excitement and honestly he wanted out of this small town.

Though he didn't want to, he'd enrolled in the local college after graduating high school. It was his parents' idea - according to them, he'd need to vastly improve his grades to even stand a chance of getting a decent job like Nick would.

 _Saint Nick..._ he thought to himself, bitterly. His parents - and everyone else in town - thought the sun shone out of his...

On the one hand, he was proud of everything his little brother had achieved. On the other, he couldn't help but resent him for it.

The negative thoughts swirled around his brain, threatening to drown him in despair when suddenly he was hit by the desire to get off the bus. It was strange - he still had two stops to go before he needed to get off. Yet he felt compelled to get off at the approaching stop.

As though he didn't have control over his own body, his hand reached up and pressed the button, a buzzing sound reverberating around the bus to indicate that a passenger wanted to depart. He made his way up to the front of the bus as it slowed down before thanking the driver and stepping off the bus onto the pavement, watching it disappear into the darkness.

* * *

"Hello, Toby..."

Toby looked around for the source of the voice but could see nothing. "Who are you? I can't see you!" he exclaimed, trying not to show that he was scared.

The voice giggled femininely. "Just turn around, silly!" He did just that and came face-to-face with a blonde girl, about a similar age to himself, perhaps a little younger.

"Who are you?" he repeated. "And how do you know my name?"

"I've been watching you for a while..." the girl answered, deliberately avoiding his first question. "You interest me, Toby Tripp." He looked at her, completely lost for words as she continued, "You desire something more than what you have. You want to please your parents - make them proud of you - but at the same time you want to rebel, find some excitement. Am I on the right track here?"

"How - how did..." Toby stuttered, stunned. How could this girl - a virtual stranger - understand him better than his own family. "Is it like that for you too?"

The girl didn't meet his gaze as she responded, "You could say that."

Suddenly he felt her hand grab his arm, pulling him to a stop. His entire arm seemed to freeze where she'd touched him and he rubbed it, trying to bring the warmth back as he tried to figure out why they were standing in front of a dilapidated house.

"Is this where you live?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded before adding distantly, "or at least it _was..."_ He turned to face her, his eyes wide as he noticed that she seemed to be...fading? "Goodbye, Toby Tripp," she said to him. "I'm sure we'll meet again some day."

"Wait!" he cried out. "You never told me your name!"

But she was gone. No trace of her remained.

* * *

The first chance he got, he did some research on the mysterious house. He discovered that the year he was born, a fire had killed the inhabitants - a middle aged couple and their sixteen year old daughter.

There was a photo so he clicked on it. What he saw shocked him. The girl in the photo was the same girl he'd seen.

 _Jessica Herleins, 16_


	66. May 22 - Taste

_AN:_ _Wow, this one was kinda weird! Thought I'd write about Toby's love for blackberries. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _633_

* * *

Toby looked at Jessica who unpacked the basket she'd been carrying, laying the blanket on the grass before placing the food on top.

It wasn't the first time they'd done this, spent time together alone without the others. In this instance, they'd gone to the park for a picnic. They both wondered whether they should consider these little excursions dates because, really, that's what they were. However they weren't quite ready to put that label on them - it meant that they would have to put a label on what they were and they didn't know what they were to each other. Not yet, at least.

"You sure we're gonna be able to eat all this?" Toby questioned, watching as Jessica unpacked the rest of the food.

"I don't see why not," she responded, holding a plastic box in her hands. He leaned forward, trying to get a closer look but she held it out of his reach.

Realizing that she wasn't about to show him what was in the box, he picked up a sandwich and bit into it. Ham, lettuce and tomato - not bad at all. He figured she wouldn't have packed any cheese sandwiches - she did hate cheese, which he still didn't understand but he'd come to accept it.

He watched as she slowly peeled the lid off the box and picked out...was that a blackberry? His mouth watered slightly and he held out his hand, expecting her to give him it. She knew how much he loved them after all.

Instead she giggled slightly as she popped the berry into her mouth, listening to him whimper slightly. "Are there any more?" he asked eagerly.

She shrugged - she'd put ten in the box but he didn't need to know that. "Maybe," she responded, before promptly pulling out another blackberry and eating it.

He found himself becoming more and more frustrated as she practically teased him. Again and again, she would produce a blackberry from the box, only to eat it in front of him before he could react. She was enjoying this...this torture!

"Oh, what a shame!" she exclaimed, disappointed, once she'd emptied the box of all the blackberries it contained. "I guess there aren't any left for you!" At this, Toby scrambled forward, picking up the box she'd placed down only to discover that it was totally empty.

"You...You ate _all_ of them?" he questioned incredulously, looking up at the girl with wide eyes. "How could you, Jess? You didn't even save me _one!"_

"And I must say they tasted delicious! I can definitely understand why you love them so much!" she informed him. While she'd never prefer blackberries over chocolate, she could definitely see his addiction to the fruit rubbing off on her.

Toby, by this point, was desperate. He wanted - no, he _needed -_ to taste blackberries somehow. She'd teased him with them and now he couldn't think about anything else - well, except maybe _her..._ A somewhat insane idea came to mind and he found himself smirking.

Jessica squeaked as she found herself being pinned gently to the grass below her before his mouth covered her own. His lips hungrily devoured hers, eager for the taste of the blackberries that still lingered.

She hadn't expected that kind of reaction from him at all! Given her teasing, she'd expected him to get angry but she had to admit - she was enjoying this reaction a _lot_ more. Maybe she should try it more often...

"I guess it's true, then," she said breathlessly when he pulled away. At his questioning look, she explained, "You really _do_ go crazy just for a taste of blackberries!"


	67. May 25 - Move

_AN: This one is kind of a sad AU. Sorry if it doesn't seem all that great but you gotta work with what you have. Well, anyway, enjoy._

 _ **Words (excluding author's note) :** 101_

* * *

She stood in horror, watching as several fireballs flew through the air towards him.

"Why isn't he moving?" she muttered, observing that her friend seemed frozen to the spot. It was unnatural for him to look so afraid - he was never afraid of anything.

As the fireballs got closer, she leapt from the ground and began to fly towards him. "What are you doing?" she screamed desperately. "Move now!"

Her companion looked up as his winged friend slammed into him, knocking him out of the way just before the fireballs collided with her, sending her crashing to the ground.

Unmoving. Still.


	68. May 29 - Air

_AN: Yeah, this one's kinda weird. Remind me not to write things at around 2am - I'm sure this doesn't even make any sense. Oh, well, enjoy it anyway!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _302_

* * *

Air was more than just her element. She commanded it and yet it was like a part of her, as though her very soul had melded with it.

She was unpredictable as the wind. One moment she could be calm and serene but get her angry - even slightly - and she'd rage like a hurricane-force gale. He'd be the first to admit that he enjoys her reactions, whether she's overcome with happiness or fuming with anger. He doesn't mind what he gets, as long as he gets something.

Her eyes - blue as the skies above - held many secrets and emotions. Though they seldom held tears, it seemed like the whole world would cry when she did. He felt like he could lose himself in them, counting the many different shades. One day he would even get close enough to see the tiny flecks of grey.

The clouds, ever differing in shape and colour, reminded him of how flighty she could be at times and how - ironically - she would often be miles away, yet could come up with a plan in a matter of seconds after snapping back to reality.

He loved the air because, to him, it exemplified everything she was. And he couldn't get enough of it, enough of her. He needed air to breathe but he needed her just as much...

They were two sides of the same coin. Both of them unpredictable, impossible to pin down. The only difference between them was the element they commanded. Perhaps these similarities were what had connected them from the very beginning.

She was Air. He was Water. And they each secretly hoped to find their horizon where the sky met the sea because they could see themselves in each other. They felt the pull of their elements...


	69. May 31 - Procure

_AN: Okay, so this one was kind of weird to write but hopefully it doesn't suck. Usually I headcanon that Jessica is the one who falls for Toby first so I thought it would be kind of interesting to write it the other way around. Enjoy!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _146_

* * *

He knew the moment he fell in love with her that getting her to return his feelings would be difficult, practically impossible.

She'd had her heart broken once before and wouldn't likely open herself up easily. She would create a wall around her heart, a wall he would have to break down to reach her.

But he wasn't one to give up easily. He would be the best friend he could be. He would support her in any situation. He would be there when she cried, when she laughed, pick her up when she fell down.

Though it would be hard, he would try his best to be patient. He couldn't afford to rush this - he had to wait until she fell for him.

And, eventually, at the end of it all, he would procure her love. He would know her love.


	70. June 8 - Stuff

_AN: Wow, I am so so sorry for leaving you all in the lurch, guys! I decided to do a mainly dialogue oneshot because I thought it would be fun! Enjoy!_

* * *

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):** 168_

* * *

"What are you doing?"

No response.

"Jessica?"

"Wha- oh, hi, Toby. Nothing, really. Just, you know, _stuff."_

"Stuff?"

"Y-yes?"

"Doesn't look like ' _just stuff'_ to me."

"Well, I, uh..."

"What's with the flower?"

"..."

"I can leave if you want?"

"No! I mean it's okay if you stay! We're friends after all, aren't we?"

"..."

"Toby?"

"Yeah, sure, _friends_..."

"Can I finish then?"

"Be my guest."

* * *

Silence filled the air as the boy leaned back, his arms folded behind his back, blue eyes focused on the beautiful girl nearby.

She was muttering something under her breath as she pulled the petals off a yellow flower one at a time.

 _Let me hear you. What are you saying?_ Two petals were left. He saw her lips moving, forming words : "He loves me."

One petal now. No, he won't let her say that.

"Toby? W-what are you..."

"He loves you. Well, I mean me. I do."

"I guess I never needed the flower, then."


	71. June 28 - Preset

_AN: Happy Birthday to my good friend **_** on Instagram! And to everyone else, I hope you enjoy this oneshot!_

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _897_

* * *

After a long and gruelling twelve-hour shift at work, Toby decided the best way to relax and unwind before heading to bed - even though it was six am - would be to have a bath.

He ran the water, hoping not to wake up the three other occupants of the house: his wife Jessica and two daughters, Tori and Erin.

Jessica would be grouchy for the whole morning if he woke her up before a certain time and the girls, being so young, needed all the sleep they could get.

Once the bath was sufficiently full, he stepped into it, feeling no need to swill his hand around the water first to check its temperature - it was normally preset to be a bit warmer than lukewarm but not to the point of boiling.

At least it usually was.

Toby instantly leapt from the bath, yelling in pain. The water was boiling. It felt like he was in a hot spring but he wished he'd been prepared for it.

After drying himself off and getting dressed, he headed downstairs to check the temperature on the water-heater. The last thing he wanted was for either of his daughters to end up in hospital because the stupid thing kept malfunctioning.

"Now that can't be right..." he muttered, looking at the reading. The dial was twisted almost all the way to the right, indicating that the temperature of the water was high. _Way_ too high.

He moved the dial back to its usual position and headed upstairs, intending on catching up on some sleep. Maybe there was an innocent explanation for the change in the water's temperature.

* * *

When Jessica finally joined him downstairs, he decided to bring up the subject of the boiling water. "Did you change the temperature of the water by any chance?"

Jessica frowned as she prepared breakfast. "No," she responded. "Why would I?"

"Well, the water was boiling when I took a bath this morning and when I checked the temperature, it was a _lot_ higher than it should have been!" he explained.

His wife placed the bowl she was holding on the counter. "You did turn the dial back to where it was originally, right?"

Toby nodded. "Of course - the last thing we want is anyone getting hurt, especially the girls!"

After that, the conversation topic changed but Toby still couldn't get the event out of his mind. _How_ did the temperature of the water change?

* * *

The answer to that very question, he found the very next night. Jessica was feeling a little under the weather so Toby had volunteered to put the girls to bed after bathing them first - it was one of his days off after all.

Tori had gone first with no fuss whatsoever and, after she'd been tucked into her bed, he carried a squirming Erin into the bathroom.

"You better behave this time!" he told the toddler mock sternly. Erin tended to be more rambunctious than Tori.

He ran the bath once again, making sure the water wasn't too hot or too cold. Once there was enough water, he carefully placed Erin into the bath.

Immediately the little girl began wiggling her limbs, splashing around and gurgling. "Hold still!" he chuckled, reaching down into the water, only to yank his hand away.

He stared for a moment before springing into action - or, at least that was what he intended. But something odd occurred to him. Erin was...giggling?

Toby paused his movements, realizing that the boiling water didn't seem to be bothering Erin at all. In fact, she was _enjoying_ it. Still, his instincts told him to get her out of the water just in case she did get hurt.

"It can't be possible..." he murmured as he used a towel to gently dry Erin before leaving the bathroom to put her to bed as well.

* * *

"Something bothering you?" Jessica asked sleepily after he walked into the room, both girls now hopefully sleeping after he'd finished reading to them.

"The water..." he said simply.

"Did the temperature change again?"

"Yes," Toby replied. "While Erin was in the bath and..."

" _What?"_ Jessica yelped, sitting bolt upright. "Is she alright? Is she hurt?"

Toby shook his head. "It's alright, she's fine. But that's what's bothering me. I know it sounds stupid but I think Erin changed the temperature of the water! You should have seen her in the bath. She was giggling like the heat didn't bother her at all!"

The two of them exchanged glances. Could it be?

"Well, we knew it couldn't have been Tori," Jessica stated matter-of-factly. "She doesn't have powers."

A look of sadness passed between the couple. Nobody could explain why Tori didn't seem to possess any powers whatsoever so naturally, they blamed themselves, thinking they'd done something wrong.

"So if Erin prefers heat, that would make her a Fire Lord, wouldn't it?" Toby guessed hesitantly. He didn't want to think his youngest daughter would turn out to be evil but then again, they had never encountered a truly _good_ Lava Gormiti.

"Most likely," Jessica agreed. "She'll likely have the temperament for it if her tantrums are anything to go by."

Toby chuckled. "Well, we have fire..."

Jessica smiled, adding, "We just need ice."


	72. June 29 - Scene

_AN: Well, this took longer to write than I wanted. I had the idea in my head but then I had to try and bulk it up for the sake of the word count._

 ** _Words (excluding author's note):_** _1264_

* * *

"How many times do I have to say it, Madison? I'm not going to be in the play!"

For the past three weeks, Toby had found himself being constantly questioned by Madison about what he was going to be doing for his audition for the school play.

"Aw, are you nervous? It's alright, I don't bite!" she simpered. "I wrote this play just for us, you know!"

"That's...uh...kinda weird..." Toby muttered. "Especially when you consider that I'm not even auditioning!"

Madison looked aghast. "What? Of course you are!" she exclaimed before batting her eyelashes at him. "Every princess needs their prince!"

Toby shuddered at her not-so-subtle flirting. Why couldn't she just take a hint and accept that he didn't like her that way? He looked around for a way to escape the girl's clutches. There had to be an escape!

* * *

Jessica had just arrived at school when she noticed Toby being harassed by Madison. She rolled her eyes - couldn't the girl work out that he wasn't interested? - and started walking towards the stairs.

Before she could go, however, Toby spotted her and started signalling desperately with his eyes that he needed her help. She let out a breath, realizing that she'd have to interact with Madison - always a joy.

"What's going on here?" she asked casually as she wandered over.

Madison looked in her direction and scoffed. "None of your business!"

Toby sighed and said pointedly, " _Someone_ has got it into their head that I'm auditioning for her play!"

Jessica began laughing. She laughed so hard she could barely breathe.

"What's so funny?" Madison snapped, glaring at her.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Jessica gasped out, clutching her ribs. "Toby hasn't auditioned for a play since we were in second grade! What makes you think he'll audition for yours?"

Madison flicked her hair. "Because my play is _obviously_ the greatest love story of all time so, as lovers, we should play the lead roles!" she snarked.

"Ignoring the whole 'lovers' part, isn't your play just based on a fairytale so it's not really an original idea to begin with, is it?" Jessica pointed out.

" _And_ ," Madison continued as if Jessica hadn't spoken, "I can't kiss anyone else. It would be _so_ disloyal and uncomfortable!"

Toby just had to speak. "W-what do you mean _kiss_?" he stuttered, feeling unwell all of a sudden. He thought he could feel his breakfast coming back up again, leaving an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

Madison giggled girlishly. "Silly, didn't you know I included a kiss scene just for us?"

Jessica watched as the colour drained from her friend's face. Worried that he might actually faint, she grabbed hold of him, trying not to look as though she enjoyed the way his head rested on her shoulder.

 _Trust Madison to try and trap him into auditioning! All I can do is hope Madison doesn't get the lead role or maybe I should tell him to mess up his audition on purpose..._ _But then, what if I get the lead role?_

"What is going on here?"

The three students looked around to see the drama teacher, Ms Johnson, behind them. Toby gulped in fear. Ms Johnson took performing arts seriously.

 _Very_ seriously.

"Well?" she prompted.

"Just recruiting people to audition for the play!" Madison said innocently.

Ms Johnson's face lit up as Jessica shook her head in disgust at Madison's innocent act. "Excellent!" she exclaimed. "So I'll be seeing the both of you at the auditions, I expect."

Toby, who was still out of it because of the earlier events, nodded his head. The drama teacher clapped her hands together and walked away, a spring in her step.

He snapped out of it as Jessica shook him slightly. "What...what did I just get myself into?" he asked, his eyes wide. "Jess, please tell me I didn't..."

Jessica sighed. "Looks like we're both auditioning for this play!"

Madison was grinning widely. "I can't wait until we get the lead parts, Toby! We can practise together at my house. It'll be so much fun _and_ romantic!"

* * *

"No! No, no, no! It can't be!"

It was the next day and the whole school could hear Madison's disbelieving shrieks.

"No, no, _no!"_

"Do you...think she's okay?" Lucas whispered to Nick, Toby and Jessica as they walked through the doors. They had been able to hear her from outside.

"Weren't the cast lists for the play being put up today?" Nick wondered aloud.

Jessica struggled to hold in her laughter as she said, "I think I know what the problem is, then!"

"I hope I didn't get the lead..." Toby muttered as the group approached the wall where the cast list had been attached. "I am _not_ going through that...embarrassment again!"

As they read the list, they saw Toby's name next to the name of the male lead. "Great..." the blonde said sarcastically. "I wasn't even trying and I still got the part. Wanna bet Madison put them up to it?"

"I...I don't believe it!" Jessica squeaked out as she read further down the list. "It's me! I'm the female lead!"

"Oh yeah!" Nick and Lucas said together as they saw Jessica's name written next to the name of the female lead.

Toby's entire demeanour changed immediately. His face lit up as he dropped to his knees and proclaimed loudly, "Thank you, universe!"

"Uh, Toby? Are you okay?" Nick asked, a little weirded out by his brother's behaviour and sudden one-eighty in mood.

"Yep!" he said happily. "I'm fine! In fact, I'm better than fine!"

Nick leaned in close to Lucas. "Do you think he's happy because Madison _isn't_ the female lead or because _Jessica_ is?"

Lucas merely looked at him, not understanding what his friend was getting at.

"At least if I have to do that kiss scene, I get to do it with you and not Madison," Toby pointed out to Jessica.

Jessica couldn't stop herself from smiling. "And that's the best part of finding out we're the leads?"

"Well, if I had a choice of who I wanted to kiss in this play _and_ elsewhere," here he leaned in until he was merely an inch or two from her face, causing her cheeks to redden considerably, "you'd be number one every time."

He moved away, leaving the flustered girl standing on the spot, eyes closed and a dreamy smile on her face.

* * *

Madison had long since left to either find Ms Johnson and dispute the results of the auditions or think of a way to sabotage her own play. Either way, she wasn't taking the failure of her plan well.

"I wrote that scene for _us!"_ she seethed. "Not for that.. that _role-stealer!_ " She watched from a distance as Toby leaned in close to Jessica, almost looking as though he were about to kiss her.

"I bet she's just loving it! Basking in the attention - _his_ attention!" she continued to complain, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from fellow classmates. "Well, enjoy it while it lasts, Jessica! You may have won the battle but you sure won't win the war and that's a promise!"

It wasn't over. Not by a long shot.


	73. July 10 - Delight

_AN: A Contestshipping day based chapter for Contestshipping Day! For the record, this is set in 2016 and I believe the last episode May and Drew appeared together in aired in 2006, though I could be wrong. The first series I saw (though not fully) was Black and White/Best Wishes but Contestshipping is the only shipping from the anime I support as an OTP. Apologies to those of you who don't ship it but when I got this date, I just knew I had to write about my two OTPs in one oneshot!_

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):** 242_

* * *

Toby walked into the living room and saw Jessica on her phone, a huge smile on her face.

"Alright, what about today has filled you with such delight?" he asked as she jumped up to kiss him. His wife had been in a good mood all day (not that he was complaining).

"Guess!" she said mischievously and Toby laughed. How were they twenty again?

Thinking for a moment, he went for the obvious answer. "Shoes on sale for a year?"

"Nope," Jessica responded cheerily. "Try again!"

Toby tried again and again, Jessica seeming to get happier and happier with each incorrect guess.

Eventually she exclaimed, "It's Contestshipping Day!" Obviously she expected him to know what that meant.

"The day that celebrates the shipping of May and Drew from the Pokémon anime!" she elaborated, seeing the lost look on her husband's face.

"You and your shipping..." he said, shaking his head.

Jessica frowned playfully at him. "Give me a break here!" she protested. "They're the only shipping I support!"

"Hasn't it been about ten years since they made an appearance in the anime?" Toby questioned.

"Don't remind me," Jessica mumbled. "I still miss them. The Advanced Generation series was the first one we watched, wasn't it? And, to this day, it's still my favourite."

Toby suddenly got a strange look on his face. "Hey, Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think people have a shipping day for us?"


	74. October 1 - Calendar

_AN: Happy Blizzardstormshipping Day, guys! Hope you enjoy this oneshot that's kind of related to my July 10th oneshot._

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):** 1754_

* * *

When Jessica walked into school one October morning, she was greeted by three girls she barely spoke to who congratulated her.

"Um, thanks?" she said, confused, as they walked past her. Why was she being congratulated? Had she won something and not been told? She wasn't sure she liked being left out of the loop.

On her way to her locker, she passed about nine people who all wanted to congratulate her. She thought she heard someone say "Happy ...day!"

 _My birthday's in March. Seriously, what is going on here?_

Her friends (and secret boyfriend) were standing near the lockers, presumably waiting for her.

"Hi, guys!" she greeted, watching as they looked over in her direction and smiled. She walked over to them, asking, "Have any of you been congratulated for no reason this morning?"

Nick, Lucas and Gina shook their heads but Toby nodded, looking just as confused as she felt. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw the other three exchanging grins but decided she must have imagined it.

"I got congratulated by about fifteen people this morning!" Toby exclaimed. "It wouldn't be so bad if I knew what it was all about but when I asked, nobody would tell me!"

Jessica suddenly grew worried. "You don't think it's anything _bad?_ Do you?"

She felt his arm going around her shoulders. "I couldn't tell you, Jess, but I - hey, why are you guys laughing?" This last part he said to their three friends who were indeed laughing hard. Lucas, for instance, was clutching his stomach as he tried and failed to stop laughing.

"S-sorry, guys!" Nick gasped. "We've been sworn to secrecy!"

"By who?" the two blondes demanded to know.

"Me!" Gina said cheerfully. "And don't bother asking any questions until this afternoon!"

Before either of them could ask why, the bell rang, causing both Toby and Jessica to grumble as they followed their friends to their first lesson

* * *

As they walked into the classroom, Jessica felt a pair of hands push her down into a chair that wasn't her own.

"Did you do that?" she whispered to Toby who was sitting to her left. The boy shook his head.

"Hey, what gives?" he hissed down the row of seats to Nick, who was now sitting in Jessica's sear. To his frustration, his younger brother simply smiled and shrugged.

"I am gonna get in so much trouble!" Jessica complained. "Remember what happened the last time someone swapped seats in here?"

Toby shuddered as he recalled their teacher ranting at a girl last year who'd changed seats because she wasn't comfortable with her original seat. He'd shouted and yelled for so long that his entire face went purple and he lost his voice.

"Relax," Gina told her, rolling her eyes. "Everything's taken care of."

"That doesn't reassure me much," Jessica said to herself, praying that the teacher wouldn't say anything about it as he entered the classroom.

"Good morning, everyone!" he greeted in a voice that was far too loud for indoors. Nobody knew if he was unable to talk at a quieter volume or if he was just going deaf and quite frankly, he intimidated them too much to ask.

"Good morning, sir!" everyone responded, a few people sounding lacklustre due to still being half asleep.

"Right, let's get on with the register. Where is it?" The class waited for him to find the register as he tapped the keys on the keyboard of his laptop.

Jessica let out a breath. So far, so good.

"Sir?" _Oh no..._ "Sir? _Sir?"_

Jessica would recognize that sugary, sickly sweet tone anywhere.

After Madison's fifth "Sir?", the teacher looked up from his laptop, clearly irritated.

"What is it, Verne?"

"Jessica's sitting in the wrong seat, sir," Madison said sweetly, standing up.

The teacher stood up, his gaze falling on Jessica who gulped as she tried to mentally prepare herself for the scolding she was sure was coming.

"Sit down, Verne," the teacher said, looking away from her. "And interrupt my lesson again and you may just find yourself in detention!"

Madison scowled as she sat down, the class sniggering. She shot a glare in Jessica's direction, confusing the girl greatly. It wasn't her fault she was in this seat! Oh, wait...

"Right, now if we're done with needless interruptions, I'll get on with the register, shall I?"

* * *

When lunch arrived, Gina excitedly clapped her hands together. "It's time!" she exclaimed.

"Time for what?" Jessica sighed. People were still congratulating her and Toby while refusing to say why.

"Yeah, don't you think it's about time we knew what's going on?" Toby agreed, folding his arms.

"Ummm," Gina said, clearly stalling for time. To their surprise, she suddenly sprinted away. "Yoi can't know just yet!" she responded.

"Gina, wait!" Jessica yelled. "You dropped something!" But the dark haired girl either hadn't heard her or just ignored her.

Jessica walked over and picked up the item Gina had dropped. It was a mini calendar.

"Why don't you try looking at today's date? Might explain why everyone's acting so weird!"

Jessica screamed and nearly dropped the calendar. "Did you _have_ to do that?" she gasped, clutching at her heart. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Toby said sheepishly. "Well?"

The blonde looked at him strangely then exclaimed, "Oh!" as she opened the calendar to October.

Written on October 1st were the words, _BlizzardStormshipping Day!_ "What's that?"

"I don't even know."

For the second time that day, Jessica felt Toby's arm around her as he murmured into her ear, "Don't you think it's about time that we _did_ know?"

She spun round to face him, smiling brightly. "You read my mind."

* * *

Lucas was waiting near the top of the stairs. As soon as he caught sight of the two blondes walking up them, he sprinted back into the classroom where pretty much the whole class was waiting.

"They're coming!" he exclaimed.

"Quick, everyone, act natural!" Gina commanded as everyone sat down, some people taking out books to read - or rather pretend to read.

The door opened and Toby and Jessica walked in, looking almost weirded out by how everyone was acting. Gina subtly nodded her head and, at once, everyone yelled:

"Happy Blizzardstormshipping Day!"

The two blondes exchanged bemused looks as some students enthusiastically pulled out party poppers as several streams of confetti emerged.

"This is great and all but...what _is_ Blizzardstormshipping Day?" they asked together.

"It's the day we unanimously picked out to celebrate your relationship!" Gina said casually.

The two blondes nodded before promptly exclaiming, "Our _what?"_ Their faces turned red and they looked like they wanted the ground to swallow them up

"Oh, come on, if anybody's an item, it's you two!" a red-haired girl exclaimed.

"B-but," Jessica muttered feebly in protest before exclaiming something she really didn't think she would. "How did you all _know?"_

There was a moment of silence. Then two things happened. First everyone in the classroom collectively facepalmed. Then Toby mumbled, "Way to go, Jess..."

"It was obvious!" Nick exclaimed, clearly trying his hardest not to laugh. "I mean, even _Lucas_ noticed!"

Lucas looked triumphant as he said, "Yeah, I totally... _hey!_ Are you calling me dumb?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "No, I'm calling you dense. Bit of a difference."

"So how long have you guys been doing this?" Toby asked, noticing that Jessica seemed to gone quiet from the embarrassment of accidentally revealing their relationship to everyone. She seemed to have her face in her hands to try and hide how red it was. He smiled fondly. She was so adorable.

"Since sixth grade," Gina said matter-of-factly.

"You've been doing this for the past, what, three, four years?" Toby asked incredulously. "Actually you know what, I'm not even surprised at this point."

"They were shipping us before we even started dating..." Jessica's voice may have been quiet at that point but everyone there still heard exactly what she said.

"Of course we were!" everyone exclaimed. "There's hardly anyone in the school who didn't - or doesn't - ship you two together!"

 _Except Madison,_ Toby thought to himself. The girl's over obsessive crush on him was already bordering on terrifying. _She definitely wouldn't be shipping us._

"We had to watch you guys passive-aggressively flirt with each other at judo tournaments constantly!" a boy declared.

"Eventually we all met up one day and just decided to choose a day to celebrate the love between you guys. Though most of our earliest meetings were mainly just brainstorming ideas of actually getting you together!" Gina informed then.

"It was only about a year or two later that we realized we didn't need to. You'd done the hard part for us so now we just celebrate our OTP - that's you guys, by the way - each year." Nick added.

"OTP stands for One True Pairing!" Lucas recited, looking incredibly proud of himself. Both Toby and Jessica doubted, however, that he would have known that sort of terminology without help.

"Why did I have to open my mouth?" Jessica whispered so only Toby could hear her.

The boy grinned mischievously at her. "Well, you know what they say, Jess!"

"Huh, what do you...?"

" _Be careful what you wish for!"_

Jessica found herself recalling events from a few months ago. She'd been celebrating the shipping day of her favourite couple and wondered aloud if anyone out there shipped her and Toby _._

"But how could I have known?" she asked. "And you didn't know either, mister, so don't try being smart with me!"

"Well, it turns out you got what you wanted," Toby said softly.

Jessica frowned at this. "I already _had_ what I wanted..."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

The resulting squeals indicated that everyone heard them.

"I was the one who started this movement so I call being maid of honour at your wedding, okay?" Gina announced.

"Our w-wedding?" Jessica squeaked out.

Toby couldn't reply. For once in his life, he was lost for words. So he did the only thing that felt right at that moment. He pulled Jessica towards him and held her close with no intention of ever letting her go.


	75. November 14 - Substance

_AN: I'm on a roll! Second oneshot of the day! Not that it's impressive, considering how long you guys have had to wait for an update. But enjoy, anyway!_

* * *

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):** 392_

* * *

People said their being in a relationship wouldn't work out because they had no substance. It was mainly because they believed the couple had no plans.

It couldn't have been further from the truth.

Jessica had dreams of becoming a fashion journalist. For a while, she had considered the idea of teaching as a career. It was her fall-back if creating her own fashion blog didn't work out. Besides she loved children and she was pretty confident that she could even handle moody teenagers if she had to.

Toby, meanwhile, had never really known exactly what he wanted to do. His mind flipped between careers he thought would be exciting every two weeks or so, only for someone (usually his brother) to remind him that they wouldn't even consider taking him on, with his grades being as terrible as they were. And he didn't see the point in trying to do anything differently.

It all changed when he was fifteen. After the incident, which left him feeling guilty for weeks (even though people kept telling him there was absolutely _nothing_ more he could have done), he found that his heart was set on becoming a paramedic and two weeks later - when his idea of an ideal career would usually change - the desire was still there. And he was determined now to see it through to the very end.

They'd been dating for two years by that point. Not for the first time, they found themselves discussing the future but something about the conversation felt... _different_.

They found themselves wanting to intertwine their plans. Of course, they had been part of each other's futures before but generally in the platonic way. Now that they were a couple, so much of their plans had changed and yet, at the same time, they hadn't really changed at all.

They both wanted to get married and have kids someday. Not too many of them, though. Three at the most would do for them. Their careers were planned out in their heads. They knew where they wanted to be in ten years time and they saw the other..

People said their relationship had no substance but they couldn't care less. How could there be no substance when they loved each other and knew what their plans were?


	76. November 22 - Skin

_AN: Wow, I am truly a terrible writer for leaving you guys hanging for so long! Sorry from the bottom of my heart but I just haven't had in me to write lately. My mum's been ill, I've been tired as anything and life itself just seems to get in the way. But I sincerely hope you enjoy this and I hope I haven't lost what little writing ability I had. By the way, I used a random date generator which is why this is a November oneshot._

 _ **Words (excluding author's note):** 1239_

* * *

If there was one thing both Jessica and Toby hated about the way they were living, it was the feeling that they weren't in their own skin.

Jessica spent her years acting optimistic and bouncy to try and hide the damage caused by her mother's cruel words.

Toby, meanwhile, acted like the carefree joker to escape from the feeling that he wasn't good enough and that his younger brother would always be the favourite.

Their disguises had lasted for years but everyone around them assumed that what they saw was what they got. They didn't see what the two saw in each other since the beginning.

Was it any wonder that they became so close so quickly? They could sense the others' pain, see the cracks in their skins, which were minute but there if one was to pay close enough attention to them.

But no one ever did. At least not to the degree of attention they gave each other.

They knew they couldn't rely on these disguises forever. They were getting older and still nobody - not even the people closest to them - knew them for who they _really_ were.

Staying in their skins so long, however, had made them afraid to reveal their true selves. It was almost as though their personalities and existences - old and new - had amalgamated into one and neither of them could tell the difference between their true personality and the one they presented to everyone around them.

* * *

"Do you ever hate yourself for lying to everyone?"

Toby sat up, looking at Jessica who was looking wistfully at the sky, refusing to meet his gaze. If he had been anyone else, he wouldn't have understood her question. But then, if he was anyone else, she wouldn't have asked in the first place.

He closed his eyes, thinking about how to answer. It wasn't like he didn't think about it all the time - he did - but he could never come up with a concrete answer in his mind.

"Sometimes, I guess..." was his eventual response.

He heard her shift from the lounge chair and the grass next to him ruffle as she presumably sat down next to him. Opening his eyes, he saw her frown.

"Only sometimes, huh?" she murmured. Under her breath, she added, "Lucky you."

Now it was his turn to frown. He placed his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him. "What do you mean _'lucky me'_?"

Jessica let out a shuddering breath. This wasn't going to be easy to admit, not even to Toby, the one person she admitted _everything_ to.

"Because...because..."

She couldn't do it. She was weak. Real or not real, she'd always be weak. She could hear her mother's voice in her head taunting her just as she'd done when she was a child.

"Because?" she heard Toby's voice in her ear, his arms around her waist, holding her up even as she struggled to ignore the taunts in the deepest recesses of her memories.

It wasn't the first time a situation like this had occurred for either of them. One would fall apart and the other would do whatever they could to hold them together. It happened more often and with more severity to Jessica, however.

She gripped him tightly, not caring if anyone saw, only caring that he was there with her. Like the oceans he commanded, his presence would wash away the pain. It took time with every meltdown but eventually the feeling of hopelessness would subside.

"Jess, you okay?" he asked as he felt her grip on him loosen slightly.

"Y-Yes," she said shakily. Toby simply hugged her, knowing that she wasn't okay but her pride wasn't allowing her to admit it.

"I...you wanted me to answer you, right?" she murmured, trying to collect her thoughts.

Toby shook his head. "It doesn't matter now," he responded. "I don't want you to..."

"No, it's alright. I mean, I tell you everything anyway and I need to get it off my chest."

They sat back down on the grass, having been stood up for the past ten minutes while Jessica was having her breakdown.

"It was a - well, I'd like to call it a dream but it wasn't - nightmare I had. I went to school and, instead of acting the way I normally do, I acted the way I am on the inside."

She took a breath, trying to steady her nerve and looked down, noticing that Toby's hand was laid over hers. _How long had...?_ Toby followed her gaze and went to move his hand away, afraid he'd overstepped his bounds.

"Sorry!" he yelped before jumping as Jessica subconsciously grabbed his hand, holding onto it. He glanced at her momentarily, saw that she seemed more relaxed than before and smiled as he laced their fingers together, happy that he could help her in some way, no matter how insignificant it seemed.

"Well, things seemed fine at first. Nobody seemed bothered by how I was acting. You treated me just the same as always. But then, things changed. When I went to school the next day, still acting the same way, people started telling me to go back to the way I was before."

She started trembling so Toby started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. The worst of her nightmare was still to come, apparently.

"I saw Nick, Lucas and Gina. I expected them to be okay with me being who I really am but...but they told me they wanted the _real_ Jessica back because they didn't like this one!"

She looked anguished as she exclaimed, "You may only hate yourself sometimes but I hate myself for lying all the time. I hate that I can't be myself around other people, that I have to wear this skin, but how can I reveal the truth when I'm so afraid?"

"You don't think I'm afraid, too?" His voice was quiet but she could still hear him. "I know I don't think about this as often as you do but I do know how you feel."

Now she felt guilty. "I-I didn't..." she uttered. How could she have been so self-absorbed? Of course she wasn't the only one suffering!

"We're both onions here, after all!"

 _Wait, what?_

"Toby, what do you mean?"

The blonde teen rubbed his head. "Well, an onion's fine with its skin on, isn't it? It doesn't bother anybody until you peel away its layers. Then people start crying. And that's kind of like us?" he finished awkwardly.

Jessica smiled for what felt like the first time all day. "Not sure I like being compared to an onion but I get what you're saying."

Toby smiled back at her. "No matter how many layers we have on, I guess we'll always..."

"Yeah," Jessica agreed. "Might seem hard to believe but I always did."

It was always the same. They knew how they felt but they were reluctant to use that four-letter word because it didn't feel like it was _enough._ Neither of them knew a word or phrase that had more meaning than the words they longed to say.


	77. December 5 - Transform

_AN: So so sorry for not updating this, guys! I just really haven't had the time to write at all._

 _Annoyingly (for me, at least) I keep having ideas for other fanfiction projects I want to write, despite having two on the go already!_ _ **Total words (excluding author's note):** 441_

* * *

Both of them could still recall the first time they saw the other transform into a Lord of Nature.

It happened at the same time - on their very first mission: to retrieve the stolen Sulfur Stone belonging to the Earth Gormiti.

They both remembered how strange yet exciting their transformations had been the first time. Sensations, perceptions - all of it changing as they adapted to their new forms.

But as their vision cleared, they hadn't been resist looking at their companions to see what they looked like. The desire to see what about these new forms made each of them tick was overwhelming.

* * *

The first thing that struck him about her appearance was surprisingly not the bright pink wings hanging from her back.

No. It was her eyes.

When she was in human form, her eyes were a pale shade of blue that many, himself included, often compared to the sky.

 _It was as though she had been destined to one day rule the skies._ But now they had taken on a crystalline hue. There was a glint of ice in her usually expressive eyes to show that she wasn't someone to be messed with, that she was to be taken seriously as a leader.

He didn't realize it until later on, of course, but he found both sets of eyes beautiful on her. Whether she was human or the Lord of Air, they captivated him.

* * *

But being able to turn into a creature with abilities of the elements wasn't the only transformation the two had gone through.

Over the years, they had both changed as people, transforming from children who thought that saving the world and having special powers was fun to teenagers who understood the responsibilities of the gift they had been given.

He had matured a great deal, though he would never lose his mischievous streak and love of everything fun. He learned to be responsible not just for himself but for others.

She, on the other hand, learned to open up and trust others, realizing that it was okay to bear her soul to those who really cared about her.

* * *

They looked sadly at their young daughter. Tori had yet to show signs of having any powers at all. Maybe it was too early to tell but, deep down, they trusted their instincts and what they were telling them.

Though neither of them was willing to admit it aloud, they had both thought the same thing a fair few times.

Their daughter would never know what it felt like to transform.

She would never know the joy and responsibility that came with it.


End file.
